


Perilous Night

by MarqueEmParc



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Death Threats, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Imprisonment, Minor Injuries, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-07-09 14:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19889212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarqueEmParc/pseuds/MarqueEmParc
Summary: After discovering an imprisoned Varian on the prison barge in 'Eugene and Maximus: In Peril On the High Seas,' Eugene frees the alchemist and enlists his help in stopping the mutiny taking place on the barge.





	1. Regretful Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I can't have been the only one who saw In Peril on the High Seas and wondered: Where is Varian? Eugene said every bad guy they'd ever put away was there... alas, no Varian. Anyway, this is my idea of what would've happened if Varian had been there. Warning: There is an extremely brief, minor mention of self-harm and suicide. I haven't figured out the tagging system yet, so I don't know how to add tags without using the already-existing tags, which all seemed a bit too extreme for the warning. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy!

"Ferry?" Eugene exclaimed, whipping around to face Maximus, his heart dropping. "He means Rapunzel's ferry." A brief image flashed through his mind of the mutineers boarding Rapunzel's ferry as his friends played board games, and he could practically hear their laughs morphing into screams as they were thrown unceremoniously from the deck into the cold waters below. He started to walk away, determination steeling his nerves. There was no way he would let Rapunzel or any of the rest of his friends get hurt by a bunch of half-wit thugs and charlatans, no way on Earth. "Let's get to the bridge and find a way to turn this ship around."

Max nickered. Eugene felt a tug on the back of his jacket, and he turned around. Max gripped the navy blue cloth in his teeth, but let go as Eugene regarded him. The horse gestured towards Dale, who was sitting against the wall a few feet away with a fearful expression, and pulled out his book on Corona law and procedure, opening it. Eugene groaned inwardly ( _this darn book)_ until seeing the page that Max had turned to.

"Don't forget to tie them up," Eugene read aloud, smacking himself. "I nearly forgot. This book is good for something, I guess."

He looked around for a piece of rope and to his luck, spotted a coil of it not too far away. He picked it up and turned to face Dale apologetically. "Hate to do this to you, man, but I can't have you blabbing about us to the rest of your little gang. Real sorry."

Dale groaned and rolled his eyes as Eugene approached. "Oh, come on."

***

Eugene and Max made quick work of binding and gagging their hostage, and were soon sneaking through the belly of the ship for a good place to hide him. Eugene didn't want to risk any of the other criminals finding him and freeing him so that he could tell them about the stowaways, so he had hoisted the man onto Max's back to be carried around as they searched for a good place to stow him.

"Alright, so, I've memorized the layouts of these prison barges, y'know, in the event that I landed myself in one of 'em," Eugene whispered as they tiptoed through a hall of cells. He ignored a judgemental look from Max and continued. "So, there should be a solitary confinement cell around here somewhere. Very secure. Great place to put our little friend."

Dale rolled his eyes from atop Maximus, unable to speak around the gag in his mouth.

"Should be right… Aha! There!" Eugene pointed to the end of the corridor as the strange group rounded a corner. A metal door with no windows stood slightly ajar, white cushions visible lining the inside. Although he couldn't see the inside, Eugene knew that the rest of the room would be covered with the same padding: floor, ceiling, walls, everything. 

Eugene regarded the slightly open door with a critical eye. "Okay, looks like somebody's been here before us. I'm just going to check that the coast is clear and that whoever was in there before the mutiny is gone. Stay here, alright?"

Max nodded, pressing himself against the wall. Eugene began to slowly creep down the hall towards the chamber, careful not to make the floorboards creak. One could never know if a criminal was right around the corner.

As he approached, he began to notice a sound coming from the solitary confinement cell. It was quiet, so at first he wondered if it was just his imagination, but as he got closer, he realized that it was definitely being caused by someone or something inside the cell. It sounded like a high-pitched keening, punctuated frequently by short intakes of air and choking noises. Eugene stopped outside the chamber, listening intently. Was someone… crying?

Suddenly, something crashed to his right, causing Eugene to jump and nearly yelp- he caught himself just in time. He frantically looked around the space for the source of the crash and spotted a small gray shape splayed out on the ground a few feet away. Upon closer inspection, Eugene saw that it was a racoon- A racoon? On a prison barge? His stomach flipped when it lifted its head up and he realized that he recognized it.

" _Ruddiger?"_ Eugene whispered, disbelieving. The racoon looked up upon hearing his name and twitched his ears. "Wait, if you're here, then that means-" _Varian._

Eugene turned slowly to face the door. "Oh, shoot. Please let me be wrong."

Ruddiger waddled past Eugene and slipped through the crack in the door. The keening sound stopped for a moment, and there was a strangled sound from the occupant that sounded sort of like "Unihneh!" before the crying resumed again, but this time it sounded less like keening and more like gasping, with unintelligible, muffled words amidst the sobs.

"Oh, I'm not wrong, am I?" Eugene paced in front of the door. He recognized the voice behind the door- squeaky yet masculine, the voice of a young teenage boy just hitting puberty. There was no way it could be anyone but Varian.

But if that was the case, what should Eugene do? By the sounds of it, the rogue alchemist was gagged- while he was making sounds, none of them were defined and they were all muffled, and it sounded like he was struggling to breathe. That meant that the boy hadn't participated in the mutiny.

Eugene took in the open door and realized that _someone_ must have opened the door and seen Varian without unlocking the chains on the inside binding the teen's hands and feet to the wall. But _why?_ It didn't make sense.

Eugene hated Varian's guts, but for some reason, the idea of solitary confinement being used on a young teenager didn't sit well with him. The practice was known to drive prisoners insane and cause them to want to hurt or even kill themselves- hence the padding on the cells in prison barges. The fact that Varian had just experienced several traumatic incidents in a row before getting put in prison wouldn't have helped his mental state. And hadn't the King promised Rapunzel that he would do all he could to get Varian help? Solitary confinement was a sorry excuse for 'help' if he ever saw one. 

Eugene sighed. "Oh, I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" He stepped up to the door and pulled it open- it was surprisingly heavy.

The sight inside was almost exactly what he had expected: Varian, sitting at the center of the wall opposite the entrance to the cell, his hands and feet cuffed and chained to the wall behind him and mouth gagged, with Ruddiger curled up beside him. He knew that Varian would be crying, but he had certainly not expected the complete look of utter despair and frustration plain upon the boy's face, and the practical river of tears streaming down his face and soaking the gag. He was in terrible shape; he had always been somewhat scrawny, but now he was thin enough that Eugene thought he would be able to wrap his hand entirely around the boy's upper arm and still have some wiggle room. There were dark circles under his eyes, and the skin on his wrists around where the cuffs were was red and inflamed. 

Varian didn't seem to notice Eugene's entrance; he was staring down into his lap through watery eyes.

"Skies above, kid, what've they done to you?" Eugene said quietly, approaching slowly.

Varian jerked his head up at the sound of Eugene's voice, his eyes widening. He stared in apparent disbelief for a few moments before his eyes narrowed and the misery in them was replaced with loathing, and then terror.

Varian looked like he was trying to scramble back, away from Eugene, but his back was already against the wall and he didn't have anywhere to go. His chains clattered as he struggled, and his breaths got shorter, faster, more urgent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you! Shh!" Eugene whisper-yelled. He took a few steps back and raised his hands to show that he was unarmed, trying to make himself look as unthreatening as possible. "Calm down!"

Varian stopped struggling but his gaze remained wary. He glared at Eugene through tears, his face flushed. Eugene could practically feel the hatred emanating from him.

"Look, Varian, I don't like you either, but right now, we need to work together. Judging by the fact that you're still locked up when literally every other prisoner on this boat is not, and that the door to this cell is open, they didn't let you out intentionally. Am I right?" Eugene hoped to the stars he was right- if Varian was in cahoots with the other prisoners, he was royally screwed.

After a moment, Varian nodded.

Eugene sighed internally with relief. "Okay. I don't know why they didn't let you out, but I'm guessing you want to get off this boat just as badly as I do. And yes, I _really_ want to get off this boat. Is that true?"

Another nod.

Eugene knelt down to be at the same level as Varian and looked into his eyes. Varian tensed at the movement, and Eugene realized that the teen was shaking terribly. _What on Earth have they done to him?_

Eugene tried to make his voice sound sympathetic and kind- it wasn't very hard, Varian was really a sad sight. "Hey. My friends are in trouble- the mutineers are going to intercept their ferry and take it to the mainland, probably disposing of everyone on board. I need to turn this ship around and take it to the mainland before they can do that so the law will deal with them. If you help me do that, I'll tell everybody and make sure that you get let go safely- get Rapunzel to give you a royal pardon. Does that sound like a good deal to you?"

Eugene watched Varian consider it- the boy tilted his head and looked up to the sky- before he nodded. Eugene gave him a gentle smile.

"Alright, I'm going to take your gag off now. You gotta promise not to make a lot of noise, okay? We don't want the other prisoners to know we're here."

Varian said nothing but scooted away from the wall as far as he could (which wasn't very far) and tilted his head forward so that Eugene could get to the knot at the back of the gag.

Eugene whistled when he saw it- that was a military-grade knot, really hard to tie and even harder to undo. Someone really wanted Varian quiet. "This is gonna take a minute, kid. Bear with me."

As Eugene worked on the knot, he became aware of the fact that Varian was once again on the verge of tears; his breathing had accelerated, his arms were trembling again, and he had started sniffling every few seconds. Eugene put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, but it had the opposite effect of what he had intended: Varian flinched away sharply, his eyes wide and panicked.

Eugene finally undid the knot, the gag falling away from Varian's face. He quickly slipped his hand over Varian's mouth before the boy could cry out, raising a finger to his own lips. "Hey, hey, shhh. It's okay."

Suddenly, Varian pressed himself against Eugene's chest, straining against his chains to wrap his arms partway around the older man as he shook violently. "I-I hate you," he mumbled as he sobbed, his voice hoarse and dry from underuse. "I hate you."

Eugene was a bit taken aback by the sudden sort-of hug, but returned it nonetheless. Varian probably hadn't experienced any real physical human contact in days, or weeks, or even months, and it wouldn't be right to deprive him of that, even if he had once tried to kill Eugene's girlfriend's family.

"I know." Eugene pulled Varian closer, letting his cry into his shoulder. The tears were probably ruining Eugene's favorite jacket, but he would survive. "It's not right what they've done to you."

Varian's answer surprised him. "I d-deserve it." It was barely audible, mumbled into the cloth of Eugene's jacket, but there was no mistaking the words.

"What?" Eugene pulled Varian away from his shoulder and held him at an arm's length. He noticed that the boy's face where the gag had been was rubbed raw and red- he'd been wearing it for a long time. "No, no one deserves that. Especially not a child."

"I'm not- I'm not a child," Varian choked out, turning his face away.

"By legal standards you are. And emotional standards, too, I'd say." Eugene sighed, wondering once again what exactly had been done to Varian since he last saw him carted away after the battle at Old Corona. 

Varian said nothing, neither defending himself nor agreeing with Eugene. 

"Rapunzel and I had no idea what they were doing to you, Varian, but I'm sure that whatever it was, we would have objected if we had known."

"Stop- stop making it sound like what I've been through was- was wrong. For them to do. Because it'll make me mad at them, and when I get mad, I get really, really, mad, and then- and then I want to hurt people-"

Eugene cut Varian off by embracing him. "But you don't like hurting people." For the first time, he was seeing things from Varian's perspective. While he still didn't agree with Varian's actions, he realized that it was wrong of Rapunzel to break her promise, wrong of him and Cassandra to jump to conclusions about Varian and assume that he was up to no good, and wrong of the kingdom to treat him like a common but exceptionally dangerous criminal. And on top of all that, the boy _had_ lost his father, and no one had even tried to help just for the sake of helping- the welfare of Corona was always involved.

Varian didn't respond for a moment, but then Eugene felt him nod against his shoulder. "No, I hate it. But I had to to get people to- to get people to listen to me."

"See now, that's where you and I disagree." At Varian's tensing, Eugene hurriedly continued, "But I understand. And I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too." After Varian said that, the pair sat in silence for a minute or two, and Eugene was glad to see that Varian's breathing was returning to normal and he was shaking less violently. 

Eugene finally drew back, giving Varian a gentle smile. "C'mon, let's get you out of here. If I'm right, the keys for these-" he jingled the chains- "should be hanging on a hook right outside the door." He stood and quickly retrieved the keys, giving Max a smile and wave while he was outside, to the horse's apparent confusion. Once he returned, he unlocked all of the cuffs, freeing Varian.

Varian didn't seem to know what to do with his newfound freedom; he rubbed at his sore wrists, then shakily tried to stand. He lurched forward, only stopped from falling by Eugene's quick reflexes.

"Whoa, easy there, buddy. Take it slow," Eugene instructed. He helped Varian get his bearings, then pushed open the cell door all the way.

Max immediately spotted them, surprise and then anger crossing his features; he pointed his snout roughly at Varian, who cowered behind Eugene.

"It's okay, he's with us," Eugene assured the horse, approaching Maximus. He looked at Dale. "Max, uh, just deposit him in there. Should be fine." 

Max obliged and returned, looking at Varian warily the whole time, who returned the look but more fearfully.

"Varian, this is Max. He's a really smart horse who is way too much of a stickler for his own good, and it's his fault that he and I are stuck in this mess."

Max whinnied in indignation.

"If you had just _let me_ lean on the _railing,_ none of this would have happened," Eugene said through gritted teeth. He turned to Varian. "Although, in your defense, Max, we did just rescue a kid in need."

Varian fidgeted with his hands- his gloveless hands. Eugene realized that he had never actually seen the kid without gloves- his hands were small, and they were pale compared to the rest of his skin, but they weren't really remarkable in any other way. 

Varian spoke, his voice quiet. "Um, are you two just going to stand here arguing or are we going to actually do something?"

Eugene facepalmed. "Right, right. We need a plan."

Varian's eyes widened in alarm. "You mean you don't have a plan?" His voice rose in pitch, panic beginning to set in. "We need a plan- If we don't- If we don't have a plan, they're going to capture me again- and- and Lady Caine's going to force me to build automatons for her and sell my organs on the black market if I don't-"

Eugene hastily raised a finger to both his lips and Varian's lips. "Shh, shh, shh! We can't have them hear us!"

Varian gasped and clapped his hands over his mouth, looking around nervously. "Sorry!" he squeaked.

Eugene relaxed. "It's okay."

Suddenly, a voice rang out from around the corner: "Did you hear that?"

Eugene groaned. _The Stabbingtons._ He gave Max and Varian a meaningful look and mouthed, _Hide._ They quickly obliged, running into an open cell and hiding behind a bale of straw which appeared to have served as a bed. Maximus was still somewhat visible, but Eugene hoped that he wouldn't be noticed unless someone was really looking.

Varian had seemed to retreat into himself, his eyes blank and wide, staring at nothing. His lip quivered, although his eyes were dry. Eugene gave him a nervous look, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't suddenly burst into tears, while also trying to formulate a plan.

Their best bet was to find the bridge- they could control the boat from there and it was easily defensible. Varian could steer while Eugene and Max defended the room, and when they got to the mainland, the port security would apprehend the mutineers and Varian, Eugene, and Max could meet up with Rapunzel and the rest of their crew. There was always the issue of how Rapunzel would react to seeing Varian again, but Eugene didn't have time to worry about that.

Eugene poked his head up from behind the hay bale, checking to see if the Stabbingtons were gone. He heard their footsteps echo distantly, retreating until they eventually disappeared. "Okay, the coast is clear," he whispered, standing. Max followed suit and trotted out of the cell, but Varian remained seated behind the hay bale, his eyes fixated on the wall.

"Psst, Varian, Earth to Varian?" Eugene waved his hand in front of Varian's face. Varian jumped, shaking his head.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry," he said apologetically, standing. "What're we doing?"

"We should find the bridge- we can control the boat from there and it's easily defensible."

Varian nodded. "Okay. Good a plan as any, I guess." He followed Eugene out of the cell.

They walked for a minute or so, carefully checking to make sure that they were not alerting any of the mutineers to their presence. They stopped when they heard voices above them- one of the Stabbington brothers. Eugene looked up and saw through a grille that Sideburns was talking to Lady Caine almost directly above them- he pressed himself to the wall and gestured for Varian and Max to do the same. His heart stopped when he realized that Dale was with them- darn, he should've locked the cell door.

"The solitary confinement cell's been broken into," Sideburns was saying.

"Yeah, Rider and his stupid horse let the kid out and threw me in there," Dale reported. "They're on the ship."

"Fitzherbert and Maximus?!" Lady Caine exploded, crumpling an apple that she was holding with her hand. "There's no escaping them. Ugh, and they let the brat get out, too. I had such good plans for him. Of course, it would have been nice if he had cooperated, but I guess we can't always get what we want, huh." She waved her hands dismissively. "Just… Just find them, and get rid of them. Try to keep the kid alive, but the other two, I really don't care about."

"Yes, ma'am," the three other criminals chorused.

Eugene gulped- that was not good. He turned to Varian and Max. "We need to get mov-" He stopped when he saw Varian's face; the boy's eyes had welled with tears. Eugene was beginning to regret letting him out- he was becoming a liability. "Varian, we need to get to the bridge before they find us," he hissed, starting to walk away and hoping the boy would follow. When there was no response, he grabbed Varian's wrist and pulled him along; thankfully, Varian was unresisting. 

"They're going to- they're going to-" Varian stammered, tripping as he tried to keep pace with Eugene. His tongue worked in his mouth but no words came.

Eugene did not like this; Varian seemed so different from the confident, enthusiastic alchemist he had met just about a year before. He wasn't even like the revengeful, angry one-man army he had been the last time Eugene had seen him- whatever had been done to him had left him broken inside, and Eugene felt deeply dissatisfied with that. He supposed that it may have been because Varian was, essentially, an orphan, and Eugene's heart always went out to orphans, but he was also angry at the kingdom he had trusted and devoted his life to for the past year for treating the poor kid in such a way as to make him like that. Varian had been so full of potential, an intellectual prodigy and a helpful, kind soul, and it hurt to see him treated like he was worth no more than the dirt on someone's shoes.

Eugene whipped around to face Varian, steeling his expression. "Look, kid, I know you're scared right now, frankly I'm quite scared myself, but you need to focus. Don't make me regret setting you free; I can always lock you up again."

Varian stared at him for a few moments before nodding, a hint of that determination that Eugene remembered from the final battle creeping into his eyes. "O-okay. I won't let you down."

Eugene nodded. "Good- Wait a second." He peered behind Varian. "Where's Max?" The horse _had_ been right behind them, hadn't he? Now there was no sign of him.

Eugene walked back to the grille and peered up through it. He heard neighing and whinnying from the deck, and stepped back in alarm when saw the glint of a blade. What was going on up there? He pressed himself against the wall when he saw a horse- Axel- step over the grille. _Oh, great. Max has gotten himself into a fight with the other horse. Just what we need right now._ He turned to Varian. "Max is up there, dueling the crooks' horse. We don't have time to worry about him right now; personally, I think Max will probably win, but we need to find the bridge. Now."

He started jogging off down the corridor, and Varian followed. He knew where the bridge was, but taking the most direct path would leave them exposed on deck, and they couldn't risk being spotted. So, he maneuvered them along belowdecks, eventually reaching a large room with a staircase at the other end. He stopped, partly because he wanted to catch his breath, but mostly because it looked like Varian needed to catch his breath. The kid was wheezing and gasping, sweat dripping down his temple despite the fact that they'd been running for less than two minutes. Eugene could hardly blame him; prison didn't give you a whole lot of opportunity to exercise, and Varian looked undernourished and exhausted.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Eugene pointed to the stairs at the other end of the room. "When we get up those stairs, we'll be able to see a room on deck in front of us to our right: that's the bridge. The auxiliary steering wheel is in there, and so are the rest of the controls to the ship. It's only got one entrance, so it's easy to defend. We'll run in there, I'll take out anybody already there, although it _should_ be empty, and then you'll steer towards the mainland while I barricade the door. If we manage to grab Max while we're at it, that'd be nice, but he can handle himself. Got all that?"

Varian nodded. "Uh-huh."

"We might need to be quick; they can spot us pretty easily once we're on deck. You up for that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." The pair began walking towards the staircase at the other side of the room. Eugene was careful to go slowly; he suspected that Varian hadn't quite caught his breath yet and wanted to be sure the kid was ready for the dash across the deck.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind them. "Eugene." A shiver went up Eugene's spine as he recognized the voice- _Sideburns._ He slowly turned, deciding to play it cool and stall.

"Hey!" Eugene called as the Stabbington approached, a sword drawn. "You know, I've never heard you call me by my real name before and I've got to say I am touched that you feel close enough-"

"Clam them!" Sideburns called, and Eugene whipped around to see Patchy move into the passageway in front of the staircase, blocking their escape.

"Stay right behind me, kid," Eugene hissed to Varian, who looked like didn't need any reminding, his back already pressed to Eugene's.

"Funny how we keep meeting like this, isn't it?" Sideburns said as he walked up to Eugene and gripped the front of his jacket.

Eugene played it off, giving a cheeky smile as he said, "You know, you and I have very different senses of humor. Maybe that's why we never quite… jelled." His smile fell as Sideburns' face twisted into a scowl.

Sideburns hurled Eugene across the room, causing him to emit a (rather masculine, in his opinion) scream. His head struck a beam and pain shot through it momentarily, but he blinked it away.

"Eugene!" Varian yelped.

"Stay out of this, kid," Patchy growled as he approached Eugene, who had stood and was desperately seeking out a way to escape this- there. A trapdoor on the floor beneath him, held together with a flimsy lock. If he could get the brothers to stand on it while he broke the lock, it would send them plummeting into the space below and allow him and Varian to run to freedom. Eugene sent Varian a meaningful glance, pleading _Please stay back,_ with his eyes, and, thankfully, Varian seemed to understand. 

Eugene started backing away slowly, maneuvering so that as the Stabbingtons approached, they would end up standing on the trapdoor.

"Where you going, Eugene? Scared?" Sideburns taunted, drawing closer.

"Scared? No!" _Come on, just a little closer-_ "Oh, I get it, because I keep backing away." _Perfect! They're right on it._ Eugene chuckled. "Of course, right. No, you see, I just needed you guys to stand right there for me."

"Huh?" Sideburns asked, and both brothers glanced down, realizing what was happening too late. Eugene stomped down on the flimsy little lock, its mechanisms crushing satisfactorily beneath his boot, and the trapdoor flew open, dumping the Stabbingtons into the small space below as they gave short shouts of surprise.

Eugene knelt down and gave them a mock-solute and grin before dashing off, Varian on his heels.

"Rider!" Sideburns howled after them, causing Eugene to pause.

"Hey! Now that's better." Eugene glanced back to see the brothers beginning to hoist themselves back up to the floor, and ran away up the stairs as fast as he could.

"Eugene, that was amazing!" Varian huffed as they ran, his eyes shining, and Eugene noticed that he was smiling for the first time since their encounter.

"I know. Praise me later. Run now." The pair burst through the door at the top of the stairs, proceeding to run across the deck to the bridge. Varian pointed out a coil of rope that they could have tripped on, so they avoided it. Eugene was unsurprised to see that Maximus and Axel were still dueling- both were very good at combat. "Max!" he called as he ran, grabbing a sword from a barrel and tossing it to the horse.

"Both of you stop right where you are, or the kid gets it." A voice sounded from behind Eugene. _Lady Caine._ He slowly turned around, his heart in his mouth.

Caine had pressed Varian's body up against her own, holding him in a vice as she pressed a dagger to his throat. His eyes were wide with fear. "S-sorry," he choked.

"Quiet," Lady Caine snapped, pressing the blade deeper into his neck. A thin trail of blood oozed from the wound, and Varian gasped in pain.

Eugene looked over at Max to see that the horse had stopped fighting. Eugene considered ignoring Lady Caine, letting her kill Varian, and carrying on with the original plan of taking the bridge with Max and turning the boat towards the mainland- Rapunzel was worth it, wasn't she? But that didn't sit right with him- that was effectively murder. There was the possibility that Caine was bluffing, although something about the way she held herself and the hard glint in her eyes told Eugene otherwise.

So, he slowly raised his arms, admitting defeat. Max stared at him in disbelief for a moment before realizing that he was serious, and tossed aside his sword.

"Okay, okay, you got us." Eugene got down on his knees to really emphasize the fact that he could do no harm. "Just let the kid go."

"No," Varian gasped, and then squealed as Lady Caine dug the dagger even deeper into his neck. Any more, and it would cut his esophagus.

"I said quiet!" Lady Caine used her free hand to beckon a couple of thugs towards her. "You two, tie Fitzherbert and the horse up to that anchor. They'll be sleeping with the fishes tonight."

Tears had started to flow from Varian's eyes- whether it was from the pain or the news that Eugene and Max would be killed, Eugene didn't know, but it pained his heart to see. He'd been so close to getting the kid some redemption.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I personally believe that Eugene would be the most forgiving of Varian out of all of the characters, especially if he knew the entire story behind Varian. Yes, I will explain what exactly has been happening to Varian since Rapunzel and her gang last saw him eventually, but that will be revealed more slowly, over the course of several chapters. Let me know if you enjoyed this and want more (I've already got a couple more chapters fully written, but I could always use the motivation!), and don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism! I'd love to improve as a writer, and getting my work criticized would help (especially in the character portrayal area; this is my first Tangled fic and I want to make sure that I have a good grasp of the characters). Thanks!


	2. Reintegration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rapunzel's ferry arrives to save the day, she and the rest of her crew must decide Varian's fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, another chapter, as promised! Yes, this one is from Eugene's perspective again, but the next one has Varian's POV, I promise. A disclaimer: Everything that I know about the effects of solitary confinement I learned in a middle school Intro to Psychology semester course that I took several years ago, so I might not have the most accurate portrayal of the emotional and psychological effects. Researching it more would be depressing, though, so... :P Another disclaimer: I will be keeping the shipping to an absolute minimum in this story; Eugene and Rapunzel have the only canon romantic relationship, so that is the only ship that will be present, and even then, it will not be a large focus. This story focuses mainly on Varian's relationships with the group and himself, and I don't want to detract from that by adding in pairings. So, there will be no Cassarian, no Varipunzel, no Rassandra, etc. Sorry to those who wanted it. Anyway, enjoy!

A few minutes after receiving the command from Lady Caine, the thugs had managed to tie both Max and Eugene to the anchor and get them onto the gangplank. Varian was now being held by a couple of tough-looking crooks, a gag back over his mouth and his hands roughly tied together behind him with rope. He was still crying, although the sound was subdued.

One of the Stabbingtons laughed- Eugene couldn't tell which one; he was facing away from them. "We get to bust out of prison and take out that double-crossing back-stabber and his do-gooder horse friend. It's a pretty good day."

Eugene stared sadly down into the dark waters below. "I'm sorry it has to end this way, Max," he muttered, closing his eyes. "Although, for the record, if you'd just let me lean on the railing, none of this would have happened."

Max whinnied angrily.

"Look," Eugene said. "I don't want to spend my last moments mad at you, but, buddy, do you have to be such a stickler? I mean, I know you only do it because you have everyone's best interest in mind, but just once I'd like to see you let loose and break some rules. Who knows? You might like it." He sighed. "Or might have liked it, anyway." He stared once more at the dark water before looking back up to Max. "Well, if I gotta go down, I couldn't think of a better horse to do it with."

Suddenly, something smacked against the side of the boat; Eugene caught a glimpse of red. He looked out towards the sea and gasped. The ferry! And Rapunzel stood at the bow, a handmade pirate hat perched on her head as she defiantly stared down the barge. "Avast, ye mateys!" she cried, a smiling playing across her lips, and Eugene couldn't help but grin- she was so funny and cute sometimes.

"Fire!" she yelled, and more red things flew past, striking the barge with a _splat_. Eugene laughed as he realized what it was- the spicy red pompoen fruit from the island. He knew exactly what Rapunzel was up to, and totally approved.

"Huh! Fruit," a crook remarked, inspecting a splatter of the fruit. "All they've got is fruit?" Suddenly, about a dozen of the fruits smacked into him, causing him to lose his balance and fall over the edge of the boat into the sea.

"Haha! Oh, man do I love that girl!" Eugene gave Max a look, smiling. They began hopping slowly back down the gangplank to the deck of the barge, but took it a bit too quickly and toppled over once they reached the deck.

"Going somewhere, Eugene?" Eugene looked up to see the Stabbingtons standing over him, Patchy cracking his knuckles.

More fruits flew into the barge. Lady Caine slashed her sword through every one that approached her and laughed. "Oh, come on! Even you can do better than that, princess," she jeered, grinning jauntily. Eugene couldn't hear Rapunzel's response, but he hoped it was something snarky and good.

The candles began to snuff out on the ferry; the Genella torches. _Wow, they were smart. Couldn't have made a better plan myself._

Lady Caine seemed unimpressed, her tone patronizing. "Aw. Now what are you gonna do?"

Eugene was once again unable to hear what Rapunzel said, but he knew what was coming next. The Firefly buzzed into view, its eyes and abdomen glowing orange. A bunch of crooks gasped when they saw it; it really was pretty threatening. The huge bug dive-bombed the barge, blowing its deadly fire onto the deck, searching for the pompoen. The crooks scattered, giving Max the opportunity to grab a fallen sword and slice through the ropes tying him and Eugene to the anchor. The pair burst free.

"Where's Varian?" Eugene searched the chaos for the boy and saw him near the bow, being manhandled by a group of thugs as they ran from the Firefly. _There._ Eugene was about to run and grab him when he saw the Stabbingtons approach, swords drawn and scowls on their faces.

"Your friends are gonna make us angry," growled Sideburns, already looking pretty angry from what Eugene could tell.

"A couple of sunny guys like you? Come on." Eugene grabbed a pair of swords and launched into combat with the brothers. He was a lot better than them; even though there were two of them and one of him, he managed to fend them off rather easily and hop atop Maximus, who was once again dueling Axel. "Max, we gotta get Varian." Eugene looked towards the bow and was surprised to see that the boy had somehow managed to get away from the crooks holding him (looked like the Firefly got them) and was running towards him.

Eugene heard a match strike and turned around to see Sideburns holding a small flame to the end of a fuse for a cannon. "Say goodbye to your girlfriend, Eugene," the Stabbington said roughly as the spark traveled down the fuse.

_No! Rapunzel!_ "Wait! No!" Eugene hopped down off of Maximus and began running towards the cannon, hoping to defuse it before it went off. It seemed he was a few moments too late; Varian reached the cannon before he did and snuffed out the spark by laying across it. _Oh, thank the stars!_

"I've had it with you, boy," Patchy growled as he gripped the front of Varian's shirt, lifting him up. Varian was unable to struggle, as his hands were still bound and his mouth still gagged. Sideburns lifted a dagger, prepared to stab it into Varian. _No!_ After going through all the trouble to free Varian and dealing with his bothersome emotions, Eugene was not about to let the kid die. 

Eugene leapt at Patchy, shoving the large man across the deck and overboard while grabbing Varian so that he didn't go over, too. Varian looked up at him gratefully, and Eugene had to admit, that made his heart swell a bit. They both jumped away from Sideburns, who still wielded the dagger.

Eugene looked over to see that Max had knocked Axel out. _I always knew that horse was the best horse._ "Max! Little help!"

Max whinnied ferociously and charged Sideburns, pushing him overboard. Eugene heard a _splash!_ below and beamed. "Y'know, I've always wanted to hear that. So satisfying." He looked across to the ferry to see how his friends were faring and was pleasantly surprised; it looked like they had captured or incapacitated all of the remaining criminals. He saw Rapunzel and waved, giving her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture before spotting Varian. 

"Eugene! Look out, it's Varian!"

Eugene clapped a hand on Varian's shoulder and called, "It's okay, he's with us! I'll tell you more later." Rapunzel still looked dubious, but Eugene turned to face Varian.

"Here, lemme get you out of this stuff." The gag's knot was much simpler than before and Eugene had it undone in a matter of seconds, as well as the rope binding Varian's hands.

"Thank you," Varian murmured, rubbing at his wrists where the rope had been tied.

"You're entirely welcome. Now, come on, let's get out of here."

***

Within a half hour, Rapunzel and her crew had managed to lock each and every one of the criminals up again, with the exception of Varian, who spent the time hovering around Eugene and not meeting anyone's gaze. Eventually, Eugene had to tell him to stay put on deck so that he could talk to Rapunzel in private.

"Hey, Blondie," he said as he approached, smiling.

Rapunzel turned to face him, her expression troubled. "Hey."

"Why the long face?" Eugene nearly leaned on the railing but then remembered that that was the whole reason he and Max had ended up on the prison barge.

Rapunzel sighed. "Is it really a good idea to just… let Varian go? I don't… I don't like it."

Eugene glanced across the deck to where the boy stood quietly, watching the waves below. "I think we can trust him. Since when were you not up for giving someone a second chance?"

"He tried to kill my mom, Eugene! And my best friend! How can I forgive that?" Rapunzel kept her voice low, but it still felt like she was yelling at him.

"He just saved your life!" Eugene shot back. "While risking his own! If it weren't for him, this ship would be at the bottom of the sea by now!" Eugene realized he was whisper-shouting and evened his tone. "I'm just saying, the kid's really been through a lot. I don't know what exactly they did to him, but you should've seen the state he was in when I found him."

Rapunzel scoffed. "In that case, he should be even more angry at Corona for treating him like that."

"But that's just the thing! He isn't! You know what he told me? He told me he felt like he deserved it. He felt. Like _he deserved it._ "

Rapunzel put her hands on her hips. "And how do you know he wasn't lying?"

"He was scared out of his mind! I dunno about you, but it's a lot harder to lie when your thoughts are bouncing all over the place in your head. You should've just _seen_ him, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, so maybe he is different. But what's to say that he won't just revert back to what he was like before once he's free? He could be a threat to the general public."

Eugene crossed his arms. "Fine then. We don't let him go. We just keep him with us, keep an eye on him."

Rapunzel's jaw dropped. "Are you crazy? He hates us. I hate _him._ He'll kill us in our sleep!"

"We'll, I'm not sending him back to jail!" Eugene snapped, louder than he had intended, and Varian turned sharply to look at them. Eugene lowered his voice. "He's been through enough. I thought you would want to help him."

Rapunzel sighed. "I _do_ want to help him. It's just, I'd been hoping that… well, I was hoping I'd never see him again. After what he did, I'm not sure he _can_ be helped."

Eugene took Rapunzel's hands in his own, trying to give her a comforting smile. "Blondie, this isn't like you. Where's the loving, optimistic girl I know who sees the best in everybody?"

"You don't know him the same way I do. You should have seen the way he talked to my father and me when he captured us." Rapunzel shuddered. "He was awful."

"You've gotta look at it from his point of view. At that point, he had lost his father and nobody even batted an eye. _You_ broke an important promise to him in his time of need. The entire kingdom ostracized him for his alchemy, and he was vilified because of a false rumor that he had attacked you. No one would listen to him about the rocks, and he was stuck in a house that contained, uh, well, his dad's corpse. For several months. I dunno about you, but that would make _me_ pretty salty."

Rapunzel was silent for a few moments before speaking, sounding resigned. "I guess so. But we should confer with the others before we make any sort of decision."

Eugene nodded. "I agree. Of course, Cassandra is the only one that really knows him. Lance and Hook just know the rumors. You go get them, and I'll watch Varian."

Rapunzel planted a light kiss on Eugene's cheek before walking off down belowdecks towards the galley, where their friends were probably celebrating their recent victory. Eugene turned and walked back to where Varian was standing at the edge of the ship.

"How are you holding up?" he inquired, making sure not to stand too close to Varian.

Varian shrugged. "Why do you care? You never did before."

"I don't know. I guess I was more worried about my girlfriend at the time. I didn't even know what happened to your dad until we got that scroll for you, and I had no idea where you were until you poisoned the entire castle with your truth serum. And at that point, I saw you as a threat to my girlfriend's life and happiness."

"Oh. Well, to answer your question… I'm okay. I mean, I'm doing better than before when I was- when I was locked up. Are you gonna put me back in jail?" Varian looked up at Eugene, his expression unreadable.

Eugene raised his eyebrows. "Put you back in jail? Of course not. We made a deal, and I'm not going back on it, especially since you saved Rapunzel's life." He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Except, I still need to get the others on board. Rapunzel isn't being as receptive as usual, for some reason."

Varian leaned forward, resting his forearms on the edge of the railing. "She hates me. I-I mean, she has reason to. And if- if I'm being honest, I hate her, too. All I did was ask for help, but she- but she threw me out into the night." His voice had grown bitter. "She promised me it would all be okay, that she'd help me, but she didn't even come to see if I was okay until I sent her a message. She never cared about my dad or me."

"Uh, don't lean on the railing. It breaks easy." Eugene pointed to the sign detailing what he had just said.

Varian jumped back, putting a hand over his mouth. "Ah! Sorry!"

Eugene laughed. "Don't worry, I did the same thing." He furrowed his eyebrows. "But if you hate Rapunzel so much, then why did you stop the cannon?"

Varian was silent. He turned his head away, refusing to meet Eugene's eyes.

"Varian?" Eugene walked around to the other side of Varian and held his shoulders in both hands.

Varian squeezed his eyes shut. He felt tense beneath Eugene's hands, and Eugene realized it was probably not the best idea to touch him without permission. "I don't need to justify myself. Just be glad I did it."

Eugene let go, straightening. "Alright, you're right. I won't push it." He took a step back and saw Rapunzel, Cass, Lance, and Hook Foot coming up the stairs from belowdecks. "My friends are here. I'm going to try to convince them to let you go, or at the very least stay with us. Stay here, okay?" At Varian's nod, Eugene walked across the deck to join the others.

"Hey guys. You all know what's going on?"

Cassandra nodded grimly. "Raps briefed us downstairs. We're talking about what to do with Varian."

Eugene raised an eyebrow. "So? What do you guys think?"

The group glanced between each other, and Eugene apprehensively awaited what they had to say.

Lance spoke first. "I don't know the guy very well, but, well, he did attack the princess with an automaton and kidnap the queen. I don't see why he shouldn't be locked up."

"Because he had reason to do those things. And he didn't _really_ attack the princess with an automaton; he made it easy to take down. He just wanted to prove that the King cared more about his family than his country," Eugene defended. "And I thought that as a reformed criminal yourself, Lance, you'd want to give the kid a chance." Eugene knew that Lance had never been told the whole story and knew almost nothing about Varian's perspective, but he was confident he could get him on his side with just a little persuasion without needing to recount the entire story.

"By that logic, then why shouldn't we free all the other crooks we got locked up?" Cassandra folded her arms across her chest.

"Because they're all adults, and Varian is just a kid." Eugene turned back to Lance. "Remember Angry and Red?"

Lance sniffed, a tear coming to his eye. "Remember Angry and Red? How dare you accuse me of forgetting," he said melodramatically, putting a hand on his heart. "I think about them every day."

Eugene nodded. "Me too." He swiveled to face the rest of the group. "I just wanna say, how is Varian any different? I mean, his crimes were a lot worse, but he really just wanted to help his dad. He had more incentive."

The group considered that for a moment, before Cass spoke up. "As much as I hate to agree with you, Fitzherbert, that isn't wrong. And despite the fact that I didn't like him much, he was really a nice kid before the thing happened with his dad." She peered over to where Varian stood watching the water. "Although, he has changed quite a lot. I don't know if it's possible for him to recover from that." She tilted her head to the side, frowning. "And he _did_ try to crush me to death, so I can't say that I would be quite comfortable with him around."

Eugene eyed Cass questioningly. "So what are you saying?"

Cass shrugged. "What he went through was traumatic, but he had no right to take it out on other people. He's highly unstable, so it would be obviously a bad decision to just let him out into the world, but I can see just watching him from here that prison is not treating him the way that we had hoped. I think that what the right thing to do would be to take him to court for a lesser sentence, but since we're so far from Corona right now, that isn't an option. As such, our best bet is to take him with us and keep an eye on him while trying to teach him that what he did was wrong without hurting him."

Eugene stared at her, impressed. "Couldn't have put it better myself. But, just out of curiosity, why do you want to help him? I thought you thought he was annoying."

Cass snorted. "Oh, I do think he's annoying. He's a bit of a creep, if you ask me. However, I want to help him because I feel bad for how I treated him at the science expo. He spent _hours_ helping me so I could get on guard duty, with the deal that I would be his assistant in his presentation, and I ditched him to get a more prestigious position. I still feel guilty about it."

"The _science expo,_ Cass?" exclaimed Rapunzel. "That was- that was nearly a year ago!"

"Oh, you can't _possibly_ tell me that you don't regret a single thing from before a year ago."

That got Rapunzel quiet.

Eugene cut in. "Okay. Does anybody else have anything they want to contribute?" No response. "Alright. I say we take a vote. All in favor of just letting Varian go?"

No one raised their hands.

"All in favor of having him join us?"

Eugene, Lance, and Cassandra raised their hands. After a moment, Rapunzel did too, a light of realization flashing across her eyes.

"Actually, it might be a good idea to bring him along. He can read the ancient language on the scroll," she said carefully. "He might be able to help us."

Eugene beamed. "I've gotta admit that I didn't know that, but there you have it! Looks like we have a majority." Eugene looked at Hook Foot. "Hook, what gives?"

Hook Foot twiddled his fingers nervously. "I just don't think I'm really qualified to make a decision… I really don't know what's going on."

Eugene nodded. "That's fine. Well, it seems we have a decision. I'll let Varian know, since it seems like he trusts me the most." The group nodded, and Eugene turned to walk back over to Varian.

To his surprise, he saw that Ruddiger was now sitting on Varian's shoulders. _When did he get here? And where was he when we were on the prison barge?_ He decided to ignore it- Ruddiger was completely harmless.

"Hey. We made our decision."

Varian looked up as Eugene approached, surprise evident on his face. "Really? That fast?"

Eugene nodded. "Yep. There's some good news and some bad news."

Varian sighed. "Lemme guess. I'm going back to jail." He pulled Ruddiger down from his shoulders and hugged the racoon tight to his chest while stroking him, staring at the floor.

Eugene shook his head. "Nope. That's the good news."

Varian stopped petting Ruddiger and looked up again. "No? Then what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is you're stuck with us until we return to Corona and can testify for a lesser sentence for you. The unfortunate thing is that none of us really trust you to not start causing trouble again once you're released, but it doesn't sit right to lock you back up again when you were being treated so horribly. We wanted you to get help, not… solitary confinement and… whatever else they did to you. Also, Rapunzel thinks your ability to read the ancient language on the scroll might be useful."

Eugene watched the information sink in for a few moments before Varian spoke. "So, why does she need me to read the language?"

"We're on a quest to stop the black rocks. We're following the path they've laid out for us, and there's no telling what we'll encounter. We're collecting the pieces of scroll, too. We've already got two more."

Varian's eyes lit up. "You- you're trying to stop the black rocks? You mean the King finally listened?"

Eugene tilted his head from side to side. "More or less."

Varian smiled widely. "That means- that means my village will be saved! And- and maybe my dad! I'd do anything I could to help!"

A pang of something like guilt stabbed Eugene's heart. He'd forgotten that Varian's entire goal was to save Corona, at first. It was really a shame that his goal had reversed after he lost his dad.

"So that means you're on board?" Eugene returned Varian's smile.

Varian nodded enthusiastically. "O-of course!" He held Ruddiger up in front of him. "Isn't this great, buddy? We can help my dad!"

Ruddiger chirped happily, and Varian rubbed his cheek against the racoon's.

"Alright, kid. When's the last time you've eaten?" Eugene knew that prisoners were kept fed, but he didn't know how long the mutiny had been going for- it looked like just a few hours but he couldn't be sure- and if he had to guess, Varian hadn't eaten much in prison. The fact that Varian had been gagged for a long time troubled him- it wasn't standard protocol to gag prisoners, even if they were in solitary confinement. 

Varian froze. "Uh… I don't know. I couldn't tell how much time was passing."

Right. There were no windows or clocks in the solitary confinement cells, so there was no way Varian would be able to know how long it had been since any certain point. "Can you give me your best guess?"

Varian shook his head. "I really don't know. I'm not really hungry, so… Not that long, I don't think… I am thirsty, though."

Eugene nodded. "Right. Let's get you some water." He led Varian down below decks to the galley and fetched him a cup of water, which the boy downed quickly. Eugene took a seat at the table in the galley and gestured for Varian to do the same; he did.

Eugene had a lot of questions for Varian, but he didn't want to be too forceful too quickly, so he decided to just ask a few and kept his voice quiet and sympathetic the entire time.

"So, Varian, do you mind telling me what exactly's happened to you since we last saw each other?" Eugene made sure to sit back in his seat so as to not make Varian feel like he was being crowded.

Varian tensed- not a great reaction. "Why?"

Eugene waved a hand around next to his face. "I dunno. I might file a complaint to, y'know, the royal guard."

Varian glared to the side, his hand growing tight on his glass of water. "'File a complaint?' Ha, like that would do anything."

"I'm just trying to help you here. What would you rather I do?"

Varian stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back. "Why do you care about me so much now?! You never did before! You think we just 'bonded' over escaping death together? Well, you're wrong! I might want to save my dad, but that doesn't mean that I'll enjoy being stuck around you and your little gang of 'heroes'!" he spat angrily, putting air quotes around 'bonded' and 'heroes.'

_Whoa, where did that come from? He was fine just a second ago!_ Eugene stood and moved into the doorway as Varian began to walk out of the galley, blocking the boy's path. He struggled to keep a calm demeanor as he said, "We had this discussion earlier. Just a few minutes ago, in fact. And I'm sorry that I didn't ever seem to care about you until now, but that's because I just didn't. I barely knew you, and like I said, you were a threat to my girlfriend's happiness. I'm not asking for forgiveness. _I_ still don't forgive _you_ for what you did. Not yet. But I'm hoping that since we have the same goal, we'll be able to work together." He hid the fact that he had rather thought that they had bonded over escaping death together; hadn't Varian been crying when Eugene and Max were about to be killed? 

Varian said nothing, glaring off to the side. 

Eugene bent down so that he was at eye level with Varian. "I care about you because you remind me of myself. I was an orphan, too, although I never met my parents. I know how easy it is to fall into a life of crime when you have nobody to set you straight."

"I'm not an orphan!" Varian shouted, his hands forming fists at his sides. "My- my dad's still alive! And I swore that no matter what came of me, I would get him back! So- so-" Varian's anger dissolved into tears, and he started to sob. "So don't say that I am one, be-because I'm not!" Varian put his face in his hands and bawled into them, tearings dripping through his fingers. Ruddiger comfortingly nuzzled him, a concerned look on his little racoon face, but to no avail.

Eugene stared in alarm. _Ah, shoot! That was pretty dumb of me, huh?_ He moved in to try to give Varian a hug- that had seemed to help before- but Varian jerked back at the contact.

"Don't- don't touch me," he gasped, his blue eyes wide, before shoving past Eugene and running away down the corridor.

Eugene watched his retreating form, dismayed. "Varian! Wait!" There was no response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually going out of the country today, and it'll be a few weeks before I get back. I'll try to post the next chapter on Saturday, August 3rd, but I don't know if I'll be able to while I'm away, so it might not be out for a little while after that. Sorry for leaving this on a bit of a cliffhanger!  
> Also, thank you guys so much for all of the terrific comments on the last chapter! They really made my day :) I really wasn't expecting that big of a response to this story; I think this is the most attention any fanwork that I've ever made has gotten. Please keep the comments coming; they're great motivation to write more! And don't forget, constructive criticism is entirely welcome! I'd love to improve as a writer, and getting feedback about my work would help a lot. Thank you!


	3. Reciprocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian reflects on his new situation as he and Eugene build trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not quite Saturday for me yet, but I don't know when I'll have Internet next, since I'm still out of my country, so I figure this is close enough. This chapter isn't quite as long as the other two, unfortunately (it's about 3,000 words in comparison to 4,500), but the ending just felt so right to me for some reason and I didn't want to screw it up with the next scene. It's also Varian's POV, finally. The next chapter is the longest one yet, so hopefully it will make up for this short(er) chapter. Enjoy!

Varian didn't know where he was going; the ferry was really pretty small and there weren't very many places he  _ could  _ go. He didn't want to go back up on deck, as he believed that the rest of Eugene's group was up there, and he didn't want to see them, especially not Rapunzel. He wished his dad was there to comfort him- he would make it okay, he always did, but he was miles and miles away and trapped in a prison of Varian's own design and  _ he just wanted his dad-  _

He could barely see anything through the tears filling up and streaming out of his eyes, which made it even harder to determine where he was going. He had been just fine a minute ago, excited to finally start making actual progress on the black rock situation and glad that he was not being forced to build automatons for Lady Caine or getting his organs sold on the black market, but since the amber incident, he'd had frequent and extreme mood swings and he couldn't help getting upset in the galley.

Eugene wasn't his friend- they'd never been friends. Not really. If they had, Eugene wouldn't have thought it was okay to attack Varian in the assault led by the King. Eugene only cared about Varian because he felt bad for him. They couldn't be friends- that required trust, real trust, and the last time Varian had really trusted someone, she'd let him down in the worst way possible.

He shoved the thought from his mind; dwelling on it would not help. He slowly brought himself to a stop, taking deep, heaving breaths- he had never been particularly athletic, but it was really jarring to see how little he could exert himself now before needing to take a break. 

Once he had caught his breath, he looked around to try to gauge where he was, brushing his tears away, rather pointlessly, since they kept coming anyway. The fact that Eugene had called him an orphan left him shaken; he'd considered the possibility that his dad was potentially dead, having asphyxiated in his amber prison, but refused to believe it, always pushing the notion aside. The rocks were special- they had to be special. If his dad was dead, that meant that everything he had worked for, everything he had sacrificed- it would all be for naught. And it would be entirely his own fault. Varian's breathing hitched- he wanted his dad.

He was still in a hallway; he hadn't gone through any doors. This hall was much narrower than the one leading to the galley; it had two doors, one to each of his sides, and ended in a dead end. A few lanterns were fixed to the walls, spreading bright yellow light down the corridor and illuminating the bare wooden floor.

Varian pulled Ruddiger off of his shoulder and hugged him, taking comfort in the racoon's presence. Ruddiger had been with him up until he had been put on the prison barge; he'd thought the racoon had been left behind, unable to or unwilling to get on the boat. "I missed you, buddy. I'm so glad you're here." It was strange to think that Ruddiger had been on the barge the entire time; it had only been a few days' travel, Varian suspected, but it had been painful nonetheless. Ruddiger had been the only one to provide Varian support when his father was trapped, and he had remained Varian's only friend while he was being kept in Corona's prison. He would always be grateful for that.

The racoon chirped and pressed himself into Varian's chest, returning the embrace as best as a racoon could.

Varian moved to the wall and slid down it, bringing his knees up to his chest and forming a sort of nook for Ruddiger to sit in. He knew it wasn't very difficult for anyone to find him, since he hadn't run very far, but he didn't care enough to find a hiding place. Nonetheless, he hoped that Eugene hadn't followed him; he didn't feel like talking. It was strange; he hadn't been allowed to speak for several weeks, but now that he had the opportunity to, he didn't want it. 

He leaned his head back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes. After a short while, it became evident that Eugene had not given pursuit. That was sort of strange, Varian supposed, but he was glad anyway. Eugene seemed to be oddly perceptive of Varian's needs. 

As Varian sat, he became aware of a throbbing pain at his throat: the cut from where Lady Caine had dug her dagger in. When Eugene had brought him aboard the ferry, he'd put a patch on it, but there hadn't really been time to do much else. He felt bad about the fact that Lady Caine had used him against Eugene; she'd just grabbed him as he ran, and he was too slow and weak to avoid her or get away. He'd been terrified, but his prevailing emotion had been confusion: why had Eugene surrendered himself and the horse? Two lives plus the lives of everyone on the ferry was not a fair trade for a single life. Was it because Eugene actually cared about him? That was impossible- they weren't friends. It must have been because Eugene was a hero, and he just behaved accordingly. 

Varian sighed- he'd wanted to be a hero not that long ago. It'd cost him everything. He knew that it was, for the most part, his fault, and he did regret much, but he couldn't forget how the kingdom had treated him when all he wanted was to save his dad. In many respects, Rapunzel had brought his wrath upon her herself. Swearing revenge on her (and the rest of Corona) hadn't been a great judgement on his part, and he agreed that his punishment was deserved, but that didn't mean he forgave those who had hurt him and his dad. Nor did he expect forgiveness from them.

Despite that, it seemed like Eugene was awfully close to forgiving him, or maybe it was just pity. In all honesty, Varian didn't hate Eugene, even if they weren't friends; it wasn't his fault that Corona had refused to help. He hadn't been there when Varian had begged Rapunzel to come with him to Old Corona, so Varian couldn't blame him for ignoring the problem when he'd never been informed of it- that was Rapunzel's fault for not telling him. If she hadn't told him. Eugene did seem to know quite a bit about Varian's situation from what he could see, so maybe he was more to blame than Varian thought… While it did sting that Eugene had just assumed that Varian was going to hurt Rapunzel when all he wanted was the flower, it was more than made up for by Eugene's actions on the prison barge. 

Varian winced, causing Ruddiger to look up and twitch his ears questioningly; he felt a bit bad for blowing up at Eugene's face in the galley. Even if he'd meant some of what he'd said, it still wasn't a very courteous way to say it, especially to the only person who was actually being nice to him. He supposed he would apologize when he got the chance. And also thank Eugene for saving his life; that was kind of a big deal. 

The longer Varian sat, the more the guilt from his outburst ate away at him; what if Eugene was worried? What if he was angry? What if he was reconsidering his decision to let Varian travel with him and the rest of the group? Varian gulped; even if he'd felt like his punishment was deserved, he still wouldn't relish getting locked up again, especially as his next destination wasn't going to be prison- it'd been decided that he was to be transferred to an insane asylum. He was pretty sure he wasn't insane: sure, he wasn't the most stable, emotionally, but it wasn't like he saw things that weren't there or anything. Was that what insanity was? He wasn't actually certain. Maybe he was insane, after all.

In any case, just sitting there wasn't going to solve anything. Varian lifted Ruddiger back onto his shoulders and stood, heaving a sigh. "I should go find Eugene, huh, Ruddiger? He wouldn't still be in the galley, do you think?" Ruddiger didn't reply- he never did, he was just a racoon.  _ Maybe I am insane… I'm talking to a racoon.  _ "Guess it's as good a place as any to check, though." 

Varian exited the hallway he was in, returning to the wider corridor he had come from. He glanced in both directions, trying to locate the galley. "Which way did I come from?" He couldn't recall which way he'd been running; he'd been too upset to pay attention to that at the time.

He glanced to the left and shrugged, beginning to walk that way; one direction went to the galley, and the other went to the deck. It was just as likely that Eugene was up on deck, he supposed, so it didn't really matter which way he went.

After walking for about a minute, he discovered the staircase leading to the deck. He could hear quiet voices from above, and although he couldn't make out what they were saying, he recognized Rapunzel's and Cassandra's voices. There were two other masculine voices that he didn't recognize: the two men that had been included in the discussion about Varian's fate earlier. He listened intently for Eugene's voice but didn't hear it. Varian looked at Ruddiger. "I wish you knew what I was saying. I would ask you to check up there and see if Eugene's there."

Ruddiger stared at him blankly; even if the racoon was perceptive to Varian's emotions, he couldn't understand human speech. Varian didn't mind too much, though; Ruddiger was still his best friend.

Varian turned around and went back towards the galley; he figured it wasn't worth checking on deck if Eugene ended up not being there. If he wasn't in the galley, then Varian would go up on deck and look for him, but he didn't want to have to face Rapunzel and Cassandra if he didn't have to.

Eventually, he reached the galley and stepped inside, looking around for Eugene. To his relief, he was there, drinking a cup of what Varian presumed was coffee at the table by himself. He looked up as Varian entered, his eyebrows raising in surprise before his expression softened.

He set his cup down and turned his chair a bit to face Varian, the wood of the chair making a scraping sound as it dragged along the floor. "Hey, Varian. I wasn't expecting to see you back here. How you doing?"

Varian did a double take; he knew Eugene was fairly easygoing, but he hadn't expected such a relaxed greeting. "Uh, yeah, no, I, uh… I was just… I wanted to- I wanted to say sorry. For yelling at you. It wasn't very- very nice of me." Varian cringed inwardly at his own awkwardness- Eugene had asked him a question, and he hadn't even answered it. Too late now.

Eugene's brow furrowed apologetically, and he waved his hands in front of himself. "No, no, no. It's me who should be saying sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you so soon after… y'know."

Varian stared. "Huh? Wait, no, that's… That wasn't your fault. You were just concerned about my well-being. It was stupid what I got upset over, really."

"No, it was really not cool of me to call you... an…" The word  _ orphan  _ was left unspoken, but Varian knew that that was what Eugene meant. "Anyway, it was my bad," Eugene insisted. "And I'm sorry."

"No, you couldn't have known. It was dumb of me to just run away like that."

Eugene shook his head. "No, Varian, you had every right to run away. I was making you feel unsafe and uncomfortable, and that's on me."

Varian opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped by Eugene laughing.

"Ha! Look at us, two absolutely brilliant human beings, arguing over something pointless. You'd think we'd know better, huh?"

Eugene continued laughing, and Varian joined in nervously. He didn't really know what was so funny and suspected that Eugene was only laughing to stop the argument, but he didn't want to just stand there awkwardly. When they stopped, Eugene smiled at him. "That's better. I'm glad you can still smile, even after everything you've gone through."

Varian rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Heh… it's been a while, I guess."

Eugene's smile fell. "Sorry to hear that. Prison's rough, huh?"

"Um… I suppose… but it's mostly because of my dad. I know that prison was a pretty light sentence for the crimes that I committed, I mean,  _ you  _ were going to be executed for far less, so I don't feel too bad about that, but I just…" Varian swallowed, then took a seat at the table, putting his chin in his hands as he kept his gaze lowered. "I miss my dad." Ruddiger patted his cheek sympathetically.

Varian could tell that it was taking everything Eugene had to not put a comforting hand on Varian's arm, but Varian was glad that he didn't. For reasons unknown to him, he'd never been a huge fan of physical contact, and after being handled quite roughly by guards several times within the past few months, it was especially unpleasant. The hug from Eugene in his cell had been appreciated because it was the first non-violent human contact he'd had in weeks, but that had been enough for the time being.

Eugene seemed to settle for lacing his fingers together and giving Varian a kind look. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Varian mumbled. 

"That's okay." If Eugene wasn't satisfied with that answer, he didn't let on.

A little while passed in silence. 

Varian was the first to break it. "Stupid, isn't it, that I haven't really been able to talk to anybody for several weeks now, but now that I can, I don't want to?"

"No, that's perfectly natural, I think." Eugene frowned. "Although I was meaning to ask you about that." He leaned forward. "You see, gagging prisoners isn't exactly Coronan protocol. Do you know why they did it to you?"

Varian felt heat spread up his neck, and he chuckled anxiously. Looking to the side, he said, "It's- It's kind of humiliating, really." He pointed to his own face, as if that would explain it. "I wouldn't stop… Ha, this is really embarrassing… I wouldn't stop crying. Every few hours, every day, I'd just… heh. In my sleep, too. Anyway, it got really annoying to all the guards and the other prisoners, since they could hear it 'cause the solitary confinement cells really didn't have great sound insulation, which, if you think about it, is really poor design since the whole point of solitary confinement is that you can't communicate with other humans, but, um, so they… they gagged me to just get me to shut up."

Eugene's eyes widened. "Varian, that's- that's horrible!"

Varian waved a hand. "Hehe, no, I brought it down on myself. I shouldn't have cried so much."

Eugene didn't look convinced. "They at least took it off to let you eat, right?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course! That'd be… That'd be prisoner brutality if they didn't. Although I don't think Lady Caine would have been as accommodating… She apparently had the cell nearest the solitary confinement chamber on the boat and she could hear me even through the gag. She said I hadn't let her get a wink of sleep for three days." 

Eugene visibly shuddered. "That woman's a snake. I'm so glad that she's back behind bars. I hope it teaches her a lesson."

"Mm-hmm." Varian didn't mention the fact that Eugene had seemingly had the same opinion of him not that long ago. He had learned his lesson once the rage faded, but he didn't know if Lady Caine would ever stop her life of crime.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, then Eugene yawned exaggeratedly. "Okay, kid. I'm glad we had this talk, it was a very good talk, but it's past midnight, and I'm exhausted. I'm gonna get some sleep." He stood, putting his now empty cup on the counter. "I recommend you do, too."

Varian nodded, also standing. "Yeah. Uh, where should I sleep?"

"There's a bunch of guest rooms- this is an overnight ferry, after all. Come on, I'll show you to them." Eugene led Varian out of the galley and through the ship until they reached a hallway lined with identical doors, marked with small numbers in gold paint. "Here we are. Why don't you just take this first one here?" Eugene opened the nearest door.

"Sure." Varian walked in. It was a small but comfortable room, furnished with a bed, a bedside table with a burning oil lamp, an armoire, and a small table and chair. It wasn't much, but it was much more than anything that Varian had had for what was about six months now. He smiled at Eugene. "This is great, thanks!"

Eugene gave a mock-salute and a grin. "No problem. Me and the rest of the gang are staying in our caravan, so if you need anything, just…" He pointed outside, apparently attempting to give directions, but shrugged. "It's on deck. Just follow the sound of Lance snoring. Hard to miss."

Varian laughed. "W-will do. Uh, thanks for everything." He slammed his fist into his palm, a realization coming to him. "Oh, right! Thanks for- for saving my life. Back on the barge. With Lady Caine. That was- you- you didn't have to do that."

Eugene smiled gently. "Yeah, I did. But you're welcome. And hey, it all worked out, right? No sweat." He jerked his thumb in the direction of his caravan. "Anyway, I'm gonna go. I'll come collect you tomorrow morning for breakfast. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Varian watched as Eugene walked away, then quietly closed the door. He reached up to stroke Ruddiger as he walked over to the bed, smiling. "Eugene's pretty cool, isn't he?" He flopped onto the bed and laid there for a few moments, staring up at the ceiling. Now that he wasn't worried about getting sent back to jail, the reality of the situation started to hit him. He was on a quest to stop the black rocks. He was  _ on a quest _ to  _ stop the black rocks _ . This was everything he ever wanted, other than his dad back, and it was entirely possible that that would be achieved, as well. He laughed, a smile spreading across his face, and turned to look at Ruddiger. "This is all so great! I can't believe we're finally stopping the black rocks! It's so crazy, right?"

Ruddiger chirruped happily, waving his tail around. Varian knew that Ruddiger couldn't tell what he was saying, but whenever he was happy, Ruddiger was happy. Ruddiger hadn't been happy for a long time. He was probably ecstatic that Varian was suddenly so enthused.

Varian laughed again, a giddy feeling spreading in his chest. "We're gonna save my dad!" He jumped up, pumping his fist in the air. " _ We're gonna save my dad! _ "

He picked Ruddiger up and spun around the room with him, giggling. He knew he looked like an idiot, but he didn't care. He was going to save his dad, and that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you see what I mean about the ending? The next scene's kind of depressing, and I didn't want to ruin our boi's happy moment. As always, comments are greatly appreciated, and don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism! I actually struggled quite a bit with this chapter, so if you see any evidence of that struggle, it would be great if you could tell me! I want to improve as a writer, and getting my work criticized would help me immensely! Thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting! I'll hopefully see you next Saturday, August 10th with Chapter Four! :D


	4. Remorse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel has conflicting feelings about Varian's presence and makes a misguided mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey :D It's Chapter Four! I'm gonna warn you, this chapter is long. It's over twice as long as the last one. Over 7k words. I'm pretty proud of this chapter, all things considered, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Rapunzel smiled when she saw Eugene coming back up the stairs to the deck, and her smile widened as he walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The conversation on deck stopped, Cassandra, Lance, and Hook Foot all giving Eugene their attention.

"Hi, Eugene. We were just talking about the best way to cook a potato." Rapunzel pressed herself against Eugene's side and nestled her head against his shoulder.

Cassandra scoffed. "More like Lance was talking about the best way to cook a potato. He wouldn't let the rest of us get a word in edgewise." Before Lance could protest, she looked down the stairs after Eugene. "Where's Varian? Wasn't he with you?"

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, I took him to bed. It's getting late. I was thinking we should do the same." He ran a hand through his hair. "Although I now realize that I just drank a cup of coffee and thus may have a bit of trouble doing that."

Rapunzel bit her lip. "Is it really okay to just... let Varian be? Shouldn't we make sure that he won't try to get away while we're asleep?" _Or worse, attack us._ Rapunzel felt somewhat guilty for being so skeptical of Varian, it was very unlike her, but it concerned her that Varian had free reign on the ship. He'd proven himself to be dangerous before- the memory of the amber growing towards her mother after he poured that neon-green alchemical compound on the black rocks was etched into her brain.

Eugene shrugged, his expression nonchalant. "I just had a talk with him. He really wants to help his dad, so I don't think he would just throw away the opportunity to do that by running away." He gestured out to the ocean. "And we're on a boat; there's no where for him to go until we arrive at the mainland tomorrow night."

Rapunzel forced a smile. "Right. Uh, how is he, anyway?"

Eugene let out a long exhale. "He was alright when I last saw him, but he… He got really upset when I was talking to him. His mood switches like _that."_ Eugene snapped his fingers. "Although, to be fair, I said something that I probably shouldn't have said." 

"Does he… forgive me?" Rapunzel held her breath; she'd felt guilty for turning Varian away in the storm ever since she'd done it, but she'd held on to the hope that Varian would recognize that she'd had no choice in the matter. She'd been so relieved when they'd met on her gondola and he'd said that he understood, so when he'd revealed that he hadn't actually forgiven her after stealing the Sundrop flower, she'd been devastated. 

Eugene shook his head. "Sorry, Blondie, but he needs time. I'm sure he'll come around at some point, but he's been through a lot, and, well, forgiveness doesn't come as easily to some people as it does to you."

"I'm sorry, but forgive you for what? I was under the impression that it was _him_ who tried to kill you and the rest of your family, not the other way around," Lance butted in, a perplexed expression evident upon his face.

Rapunzel rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at the deck. "There's more to it than that," she admitted. "I... broke an important promise to him, and I let him get thrown out into a deadly storm. He blames me for his father's… situation." She sighed. "While I don't agree with him, I should've at least stopped the guards taking him away, and I should've gone to check up on him after the fact."

Lance stared blankly. "I don't get it. What exactly is his dad's situation?"

Eugene clapped a hand on Lance's shoulder. "You know what, I'll tell you the whole story tomorrow, but right now, we ought to get some sleep. We've all had a long day stopping prison barge mutinies and suchlike, so we all deserve some well-earned rest. Whaddaya say?" Rapunzel was grateful for his interruption; she wasn't sure she would have been able to tell the tale right then, not without some mental preparation. Every time she thought about Varian… Too many emotions. Anger, regret, guilt, fear… She didn't think she would be able to avoid a mental breakdown if she was forced to talk about it.

Cassandra yawned, nodding. "Yeah," she said shortly, walking off towards where they had put the caravan at the stern. Hook Foot and Lance followed her, but when Eugene went to join them, Rapunzel pulled his sleeve, keeping him from going.

He turned back to face her, his eyes questioning. "What is it, Blondie?"

"Shouldn't we, I don't know, have somebody take watch? It's not that I don't trust Varian, exactly, but, um, don't you think it could be dangerous if we all just go to sleep?" Rapunzel winced inwardly at her own words; she disliked referring to Varian as 'dangerous'- he was only a kid, after all, but there just wasn't any other word for it. He was resourceful, smart; if there was any lingering resentment in him for her or her friends, she had no doubt that he would be able to find some way to hurt them.

"That sounds exactly like you don't trust Varian." Eugene tucked a lock of Rapunzel's hair behind her ear. "If that makes you feel better, I wouldn't be against it, but I really don't think it's necessary. He wouldn't risk hurting the only people who are doing something about the rocks."

Rapunzel didn't push it. Eugene seemed so utterly convinced of Varian's trustworthiness; the faith that he had in the alchemist was quite endearing, and she would hate to spoil it. "I suppose." She smiled. "Thanks for being here for me, Eugene."

Eugene returned her smile gently, kissing her forehead. "Of course. If you ever need to talk, I'm right here." He took her hand and turned to walk towards the stern. "Now, come on, let's go to bed."

"Actually, you go on ahead. I'm not really tired."

"Okay. Goodnight, then." Eugene walked off down the deck, his footsteps growing quieter and quieter until they eventually disappeared, the sound of the caravan door opening and closing following them.

Rapunzel walked over to the edge of the ship, looking out across the waves. It was quite beautiful; moonlight danced across the surface of the water, causing the waves to glimmer and sparkle similarly to the bright stars twinkling in the dark sky above. Even after being stuck on the island and seeing the ocean every day and night for several weeks, it never ceased to be breathtaking, at least for Rapunzel. She supposed that came from being locked in a tower for eighteen years. 

She turned her head to look at Pascal, who sat on her shoulder quietly, also watching the sea. "Today's been strange, huh, Pascal?"

Pascal looked up at her, making a small noise of agreement.

Rapunzel laughed. "I mean, we finally got off the island, we stopped a prison barge mutiny, and now we've added Varian to our group." She looked up at the full moon, her smile falling away. "I wonder if we're doing the right thing."

Pascal put a paw on her cheek comfortingly, and she took him in her hand to better talk to him. 

"I just don't know how to feel, Pascal. I want to trust Varian, and I really do feel bad for what happened to him and I wish it had gone differently, but I can't just forget that he terrorized my kingdom and nearly murdered my mom and Cass. You understand, right?"

Pascal nodded, making a sympathetic noise.

Rapunzel rubbed her cheek against Pascal's, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm glad you get it. I don't know what I'd do without you." She sighed, pulling Pascal away. "I trust Eugene, and if he trusts Varian, then I should, too, but I… I just don't." She turned her gaze up to the sky, as if there were answers in the stars. "Why am I the only one who feels this way? Like Eugene said, I'm supposed to be the one who forgives the most easily. So why is it so hard?" She let out a long exhale through her nose and looked back down at Pascal. "Why?"

Pascal tilted his head from side to side.

"You're right. I should stop thinking about it." Rapunzel forced her voice to sound more confident and gave Pascal a smile. "Maybe sleeping on it will help." She lifted Pascal back up onto her shoulder and turned away from the railing, walking away down the deck. As she passed the stairwell leading down belowdecks, she stopped. Golden light came up the stairs; the lanterns below were still burning. Rapunzel wondered if they were ever put out; she supposed not. Even in daylight, light from outside couldn't penetrate to the center of the ship.

She peered down the stairs, swallowing. She'd gotten an idea; she didn't think she liked it much, but the safety of her friends was the most important thing, right? She picked up a length of rope sitting on a crate near the stairs and pulled out a pair of scissors from her bag, proceeding to cut off a piece. Pascal looked at her inquisitively, and she shrugged. "I need something kind of long and hard. See anything like that?"

Pascal glanced around, then pointed to the candle rods around the edge of the ship.

Rapunzel shook her head. "I can't take those. The Genella torches keep the Firefly away. Anything else?"

Pascal glanced around some more then shook his head.

"Oh, I know! I'll use a ladle from the kitchen. One of the big metal ones." Rapunzel began walking down the stairs towards the galley, the hard wood of the floor belowdecks cool on her bare feet.

Once at the galley, she grabbed aforementioned ladle and exited, walking towards the guest rooms. Pascal stared in confusion at her, tilting his head to the side.

Eventually, she reached the guest rooms. "Pascal, can you check under the doors to see which one Varian is in?" Rapunzel whispered quietly, setting the chameleon on the floor. He walked up the first door and peered under it through the small crack at the bottom, then did a thumbs up at her. 

"Is he asleep?"

Pascal nodded, his eyes still questioning.

Rapunzel took a deep breath. _Oh, this just feels so wrong. But I can't risk endangering my friends._ She stepped up to the door and carefully tied the ladle to the doorknob, laying it across so that it stuck out over both the door and the wall adjacent. Pascal's jaw dropped before he shook away the expression and stood on his hind legs, crossing his arms. He glared at Rapunzel judgmentally, tapping his foot.

Rapunzel crossed her own arms defensively. "Don't look at me like that. I already feel bad enough about it as it is."

Since the door only opened inwards, towards the bedroom, the ladle would stop it from moving, effectively locking Varian inside. "And anyway, it's just for tonight." Rapunzel picked Pascal back up and set him on her shoulder, beginning to walk away, back towards the staircase. "We'll just come back really early tomorrow morning and take it off. If he _can_ be trusted, he won't even know it was there. It's just… insurance."

Pascal rolled his eyes but didn't protest otherwise, to Rapunzel's relief.

She eventually returned to the deck and strode across to the caravan, entering the girls' side quietly. The lights inside were still on, immediately giving away the fact that Cassandra had not yet gone to sleep. The dark-haired woman sat on her bed and watched as Rapunzel entered, her expression blank.

"Where were you? We all agreed to go to bed ten minutes ago." Cassandra sat cross-legged, resting an elbow on her knee and placing her cheek in her palm.

Rapunzel pulled her nightclothes down from off of her bed and began to change into them. Cassandra averted her eyes politely. "I was just taking care of something," Rapunzel said. "It doesn't really matter." Once finished changing, she blew out the candles illuminating the space and climbed up into her bunk, settling down under the covers.

She heard Cassandra also settle down. "If you say so. I just wish you weren't keeping me up. I'm exhausted."

"Ha, sorry!" 

Cassandra laughed. "I'm kidding, it's fine. Just, let me get some sleep now, alright?"

"Alright." Both women went quiet, and soon, Rapunzel could hear the soft, even breathing of sleep coming from her friend, and smiled gently. Even if it felt wrong to lock Varian in his room, it made her feel safer, and she couldn't exactly say that she regretted it. She kissed Pascal on his forehead and placed him on her pillow beside her head. "Pascal, if you wake up before me, just wake me up, okay?"

Pascal nodded before curling up on the pillow. Rapunzel closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her.

***

_"Please, Your Majesty," Varian was saying, his gaze lowered as he knelt before the King. "Something must be done about the rocks. They've nearly completely obliterated the village."_

_"Very well, Varian." The King's voice was deep and strong, reverberating throughout the throne room that he and Varian occupied. "You have my permission to experiment alchemically on the rocks, and the royal administration will provide you with funds for your research."_

_Varian raised his head, his jaw dropping. "Really? Thank you very much, your Majesty!" Rapunzel smiled at him from beside King Frederic's throne, and he returned the expression._

_The King nodded graciously, saying, "Of course."_

_Suddenly, a group of the black rocks sprung up in the center of the room, sending cracks along the floor throughout the space. Rapunzel and Varian both shouted in surprise, and the King stood up hastily. Eugene ran in, a distraught expression on his face, and dashed over to Rapunzel._

_More rocks pierced upwards through the floor, causing Varian to jump away in a panic. "Ah!" He looked around frantically for somewhere to run, to escape, but the rocks were coming up too fast and he knew he wouldn't be able to get away. He glanced fearfully towards Rapunzel, King Frederic, and Eugene, who didn't seem to have any better luck. Rapunzel met his gaze and yelled, "Varian! Your solution!"_

_Varian glanced down at his hands; he was suddenly holding two Erlenmeyer flasks, each filled with a translucent yellow-green liquid that glowed dimly. He had the sudden surety that one of them could dissolve the rocks, save them all; however, the other one was the mixture which caused the amber to grow. Which was which?_

_As Varian stared at them, frantically trying to determine which solution was the one that could dissolve the rocks, a spike speared up through the ground directly in front of him, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards. The flask in his left hand slipped out of his grasp, spinning away in the opposite direction as the liquid inside sloshed out._

_"No!" Varian scrambled to his feet to try to save what was remaining, but as he reached for it, another spike burst up under it, sending it flying across the room towards Rapunzel, Frederic, and Eugene._

_Varian stared in horror as the rocks which had been touched by the solution began to change color, becoming green and then gold, and the amber substance which had encased his father began to emerge. Rapunzel, Frederic, and Eugene backed away from it as it grew, their eyes wide with fear._

_Varian tried to run up to them, but there were too many of the rocks in the way, and the onslaught wasn't slowing down. "No!" He realized that he was still holding the other solution- it could dissolve the rocks. Maybe it could dissolve the amber, too._

_He launched the flask through the air at the steadily encroaching amber, and the glass shattered on impact, splattering the amber with the glowing liquid inside. He held his breath, waiting for the crystal to dissolve, but gasped in alarm when a new, teal substance began to grow from it. "No!" he cried once more, his voice breaking. "No, nonono! It was supposed to work!"_

_Rapunzel met his gaze again, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared through the amber. She had backed up against the wall behind her, along with the King and Eugene. "Varian! We're getting trapped!"_

_"I know, I know- just let me- Ah!" Varian jumped away from yet another rock coming up on his side._

_Rapunzel's eyes hardened, her jaw setting. "It's your fault."_

_"What? No, no, I- I- I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!" The teal substance had started growing even faster, rushing through the spikes towards Varian as the amber grew in the opposite direction. He tried to move backwards, escape it, but the rocks had him trapped and he could barely move._

_Just before the teal substance engulfed him, he saw Rapunzel open her mouth to say something, but Varian never heard what it was, as he braced himself for the impact of the teal substance-_

Varian woke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright in bed. His heart was like a leaf fluttering in the wind. He took deep, ragged breaths, clutching his arms to his chest.

Ruddiger perked up beside him, twitching his ears sleepily. Once he saw Varian's expression, he climbed into the boy's lap, making a small noise of concern.

Varian shakily drew the racoon closer to himself, trying to even his breathing. _It was just a nightmare, I'm fine, it wasn't real. Just a nightmare._ "H-h-hey, Ruddi- Ruddiger." 

This had become a nightly routine for them in prison; no, even before prison. Ever since the amber incident, nearly every time Varian slept, he was plagued by nightmares. They usually involved his dad, but there was the occasional one about Rapunzel. "Ruddiger," Varian breathed again, hugging the racoon. He was sure not to hold Ruddiger too tightly- he didn't want to hurt him- but he held him as close as he could, digging his fingers into the racoon's coarse fur and feeling the soft down underneath.

Ruddiger chirped sympathetically, nuzzling Varian's neck. 

After a few minutes of sitting like that, Varian's heartbeat had slowed enough for him to count the beats, and his breathing also became more regulated. He released Ruddiger gently, sitting back against the backboard of the bed. "Sorry about that, buddy," he whispered, stroking Ruddiger's back. The racoon rubbed his cheek against Varian's arm comfortingly.

Varian looked up at the porthole on the left-hand wall of the room; it cast a circle of silver moonlight on the floor. He glanced around for a clock but saw none; he supposed it would be pretty expensive if there were clocks in every room on the ship. 

He leaned his head back against the backboard, sighing. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep even if he tried; the nightmare had sufficiently woken him up. So, he slid his legs out from under the blankets and stood, proceeding to pull on his boots, which he had taken off before he went to bed.

Once he had done up the laces, he straightened and crossed the room to the door; he figured he might as well walk around or something, now that he could. Perhaps he could go up on deck and look at the sky; he hadn't done that in a long time. He still had a hard time believing he was free.

He turned the doorknob and pulled, expecting the door to swing open, but to his surprise, it didn't budge. _Maybe it's stuck?_ He pulled harder, to no avail. 

Frowning, he let go of the doorknob and felt around the doorjamb for the deadbolt; he didn't remember locking it the night before, but maybe he had. His hands found the bolt, and he felt it to see if it was locked. It wasn't. _Huh._

He moved to the other side of the door to inspect the hinges, thinking that perhaps one of them was causing the problem. He peered at them but couldn't make out anything in the darkness, so he walked to the bedside table and picked up the oil lamp there. After turning it on and blinking in the sudden light, he returned to look at the hinges but found nothing out of place; they looked freshly oiled, in fact.

He glanced at Ruddiger, who had taken his place on his shoulder, and shrugged, standing. Maybe it was something with the doorknob? He stepped back to the other side of the door, bending to inspect the knob. He turned it, feeling no resistance. The door was fitted so that he could see a few millimeters between the door and the doorframe, so he could see that the latch bolt was working fine, as well. He tried once more to pull the door open, putting all of his weight into it, but was still unable to get it to move.

Varian straightened and smiled wanly at Ruddiger. "Guess it's jammed. We're stuck in here for now, I guess." He returned to the bed and sat down heavily, shoving the trickle of panic he'd started to feel down. _It's just jammed. There's nothing wrong. Eugene'll let me out in a couple hours. We're fine._

As much as he tried not to, though, he couldn't help but think, _But what if Eugene doesn't come?_ _What if this is just my new prison? What if I'm stuck here forever? What if they put me in here intentionally?_

He reached up and pulled Ruddiger down into his lap, trying to calm himself down by hugging the racoon closely. "We're alright, r-right, Ruddiger? We can wait a bit."

***

Rapunzel was woken by the sensation of something cool and scaly poking her cheek; she opened her eyes blearily to see Pascal looming up over her face in the darkness, pressing his tail into her cheek repeatedly.

She sat up slowly, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Mmm… what time is it?" She turned to look at the small clock hanging in the corner of the room. _Four o' clock._

She slid out of her bunk, landing lightly on the floor. She knew Cass was a very light sleeper and so took extra caution to be quiet while she dressed, stopping every time her friend stirred. Eventually, she was fully dressed, and carefully exited the caravan, closing the door gently behind her.

It was still nighttime out; the sun hadn't even begun to show itself yet. Rapunzel took a deep breath of the salty night air, unable to help the small smile that came to her face. She'd miss the ocean when they headed inland.

She made her way down belowdecks towards Varian's room, cringing every time a floorboard creaked. It certainly helped that she wasn't wearing shoes, and she doubted that anyone would hear from up on deck, but it couldn't hurt to be careful.

She eventually returned to stand in front of Varian's room, and saw that her makeshift lock was still in place. She stepped up to the door and undid the rope binding the ladle to the doorknob, flinching when the handle of the ladle clanged against the doorframe. 

She stepped back in alarm when she heard a sound like a squeal from within the room, and her alarm heightened when it was followed by Varian's voice:

"Ah! Ruddiger! Are you- are you okay? I'm sorry- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I'd never hurt you-" There was the sound of a forgiving racoon chirp, and then the shifting of blankets. 

Rapunzel hastily shoved the ladle and rope into her satchel when she heard footsteps approaching. _Fiddlesticks!_

Varian continued speaking. "Eugene? Uh, the door's jammed or something- I couldn't get it open earlier. You might have to- Whoa!" 

The door flew open, and Rapunzel saw Varian fall backwards and land hard; he evidently had pulled on the door much harder than necessary. 

Rapunzel grimaced. _Ouch._ "Uh, hi?"

Varian shook his head dizzily, then snapped his gaze up to look at Rapunzel. His eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! P-Princess Rapunzel! Uh, I mean-" He scrambled to his feet and gave a short bow. "Your Highness." There was no spite, no mockery in the title, just a sort of nervous rigidity, Varian's voice sounding taut and thin.

Rapunzel rubbed her left forearm with her right hand, smiling awkwardly. "Um… just 'Rapunzel' is still fine." Varian had never seemed to learn to just call her 'Rapunzel', usually referring to her as 'Princess,' but she figured the less formal they were, the more likely he could see her as a person and not just the imperious ruler he surely saw her as after she refused to help him during the storm.

Varian straightened, his posture stiff. "R-right. Of course." He glanced down the hallway in both directions, confusion passing across his features. "Uh, where's Eugene? He said he was gonna- he said he was going to, um, pick me up." He was obviously trying to hide it, but a note of panic had crept into his voice, bewildering Rapunzel. _He_ was scared? Of her? Didn't he know he was the formidable one in this exchange?

"Oh, did he? I, um, I didn't know." Rapunzel let her arms fall to her sides. What was this? She'd been expecting an aggressive confrontation when she'd heard him coming, since as the last time they'd met, they had not parted on good terms. She'd been prepared for snarky comments and biting insults, a condescending tone, perhaps some cutting accusations and anger. Not this… quiet fear and passiveness, this strained formality. She supposed it was a good thing she had guessed wrong; that meant Varian had changed, right? But it also meant that she'd made a dreadful mistake in locking him in his room. What was she, a monster? What kind of person would do that to another person? Shame pricked at her insides, hot and viscid.

Varian glanced back into his room towards where Ruddiger sat on the bed. The racoon jumped down and leapt up onto the boy's shoulder. Varian awkwardly looked to the side, his eyes straying everywhere but to Rapunzel. "Oh, uh, that's fine, I guess." He was silent for a few moments before saying, "So, erm, are we- are we gonna get going?"

Rapunzel stared blankly. "I'm sorry? Get going where?"

Varian laughed uneasily, his voice becoming even more nervous, rising in pitch the slightest bit. "To- to breakfast? I mean, it's a little early, but that's why you came and got me, right?"

_Uh-oh._ Rapunzel mentally kicked herself- this whole thing had been a bad idea. She couldn't take Varian to breakfast; no breakfast had yet been made. No one else was even awake. "Um… Actually, no." She quickly tried to think up an explanation. As much as she felt bad about it, she didn't have the heart to tell Varian that she had locked him in his room against his will, and she didn't want to incite him to anger. She also was loathe to give foundation to his fear of her, which was becoming to become unsettling. "I was just, uh, I wanted to talk to you. Before everybody else woke up." The lie felt heavy and thick in Rapunzel's mouth, and she just barely managed to hold back a wince at how hesitant she sounded.

Varian's mouth formed an _O_ of surprise, and an emotion that Rapunzel couldn't pinpoint flitted across his eyes. She hoped it wasn't suspicion. "Uh, s-sure." He gestured into the room. "Do you- did you want to come in? I, uh…"

Rapunzel shook her head, gesturing down the hallway. "I was thinking… we could go to the galley?" That would give her a little bit of time to get herself together. And, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she didn't want to enter Varian's room. She'd locked him in there. It'd been a prison, if only for a few hours, despite its cozy appearance. There was something disturbing about that- Rapunzel recalled how her father had done something similar to her and repressed a shudder.

Varian looked at Ruddiger, then turned back and gave a tiny nod. Was it just her, or was there relief in his expression? Rapunzel stepped back to allow him through the threshold, and he stepped forward, closing the door behind him.

They walked in silence towards the galley, Rapunzel desperately trying to conjure up something to talk to him about. Ugh, what kind of request was that, 'I want to talk to you'? Why couldn't she have said something else that wouldn't rope them into a conversation that neither of them wanted to have? Something like, 'Oh, just checking in,' or maybe, 'I got lost, could you tell me which way the galley is?'

Her thoughts kept going back to what Varian had said before he opened the door: he'd said it was jammed. He had tried and failed to open the door at some point during the night, and that bothered her. Yes, she felt guilty for locking Varian in, but she couldn't help but wonder: Why had he tried to leave? To find her and her group and attack them while they slept? Or did he just want to take a walk? _Oh, why did I think it was a good idea? I'm such an idiot! I should've listened to Pascal._ Rapunzel realized bleakly that she had been riding on the hope that Varian would just sleep through it, had unknowingly put some sort of faith in him. Ah, but what good did it do? She still didn't know whether that faith was warranted.

They eventually reached the galley, and took seats across from each other.

Varian was the first to speak. "So, w-what did you want to talk to me about?"

Rapunzel froze. _Relax, we're just talking. It's fine. He thinks the door was just jammed._ She wracked her brain for something to say, having not come up with anything on the walk there as she had pondered the implications of Varian's knowledge of the door's inability to open. After a few moments, she settled on, "I… I was wondering what exactly it was like in prison. Eugene told me you were in bad shape when he found you, and I, uh, I am inclined to agree that you don't look… great." She hadn't gotten a proper look at Varian the night before, since it had been dark and she never came within a few yards of him, but now that she could see him closely in the light, she was rather distressed by his appearance. He was thin, much thinner than he had been six months ago, his clothes hanging even more loosely on his small frame than they had back when she had first met him. He was naturally pretty tan, but he was paler than she'd ever seen him, which made the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced. His freckles had faded to a point of near invisibility. His wrists were raw and red, likely from the shackles he'd no doubt been wearing, as well as his cheeks, in a line across his face horizontally. That drew Rapunzel's attention; it was the only change in his appearance that she couldn't immediately come up with an explanation for. Varian still wasn't looking at her, his line of sight focused on something to his right, so she didn't mind staring for a moment. _What could that be fr- Oh my gosh._ He'd been gagged. Rapunzel just barely resisted reaching up to touch her own face, memories flooding back from that terrible night in the tower when Mother Gothel had her chained and gagged and Eugene was on his way and Mother was going to _kill_ him- No. She couldn't think about that. She had to focus on Varian.

Varian stiffened. "Way to sugarcoat it, Princess." His tone was light but forcibly so, to the point where it sounded strained. His expression didn't let anything on, but Rapunzel could tell from the way his shoulders hunched and how he sat back in his seat that he was unsettled by the question.

Rapunzel pushed away thoughts of Mother Gothel; Varian was more important right then. But her eyes kept going back to the reddened, shiny skin on his cheeks… "Sorry, do you not want to talk about it? Because that's fine, if you don't, we don't have to-"

Varian nodded quickly. He didn't seem to have noticed Rapubzel's shift in mood, still keeping his gaze averted. "Yes- I mean, no- I mean, I'd rather not. Talk about it. Yeah."

Rapunzel drummed her fingers on the table nervously. It wasn't like she even wanted to talk to him, she would have rather not had this conversation at all, but she was disappointed by his answer. If she knew what he'd been through, maybe she could empathize with him better, not be as mad, maybe even forgive him. Gosh, she wanted to be able to forgive him so _bad,_ but she just _couldn't._ Not after he deceived her into thinking that they were friends so he could get what he wanted. Not after he terrorized her kingdom and wounded half the royal guard. Not after he nearly killed her mom and Cass. "Um, okay."

Varian watched her hand tensely, his own hands fidgeting restlessly in his lap. "Is there- Is there anything else?"

Rapunzel was about to say no, before a thought occurred to her. She'd been wanting to say it ever since Varian was carted away after the final battle that night. She immediately stopped regretting asking Varian to talk with her; she was a genius! She could make real progress! _Ahaha, Rapunzel, you're not as hopeless as you thought!_ "Actually, yes. I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Rapunzel made sure not to sound too enthusiastic; that wouldn't go over well, she thought, so she kept her voice carefully neutral.

Varian's hands stopped moving, and he met her gaze for the first time since he'd been brought aboard the ferry. "You- you're sorry?"

Rapunzel nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't help you, and that I let you get thrown out into the night, and that I broke my promise. And I'm sorry that I never considered your perspective." Was there anything else? Surely she was missing something, she knew there was more, Varian wouldn't have reacted as strongly as he did if that was it-

Varian stared, seemingly dumbfounded. "Really? I thought- You're joking. You've gotta be."

Rapunzel tilted her head to the side. "Huh? Why would I be joking?" _Shoot, bad reaction._

Varian looked away again, a hint of anger creeping into his voice, although it was mostly masked by misery. "Why would you be saying this now? If you're sorry, then why did you never come to make sure that I was okay? And why- why did you let the rumor that I attacked you spread? You _knew_ it wasn't true." His voice was wavering, his lip beginning to quiver, and Rapunzel remembered how Eugene had warned her about Varian's mood swings _._

Rapunzel considered his accusations, distraughtly realizing that they were true. _I knew there was more. Crud._ "I'm sorry about that, too, Varian. I guess I was just going through some stuff, and I felt bad about it, I really did, I still feel bad about it, but there's no excuse for it. I'm really, really sorry." Rapunzel tried to put as much sincerity into her voice as possible. It wasn't difficult; what she was saying was true. 'Some stuff' sounded lame, though, and she immediately wished that she'd not said that. 

"You… you-" Varian slammed a fist down on the table, although it barely shook the table, he was so weak. "Agh! No! You're not sorry. You… it's impossible. You're just- I know you. You're just saying this to- to make yourself _feel_ better. You don't _actually_ care about me!" While he sounded like he was _trying_ to sound angry, his voice and expression mostly came across as desperate, needy, his eyes wide and searching as he looked into hers.

Rapunzel shook her head. "No, you don't know me, Varian," she said gently. "You might think you do, but… it's been a long time since we've last seen each other. I'm… I've changed." She looked down into her lap sadly, hating to break the eye contact but finding the such raw emotion in his eyes unnerving. "I know you hate me for what I did then, but I need you to know that I would not have done it now had I been faced with the same situation. Then, I was… I was… The reason that I didn't go and help you after the storm was because I was _scared._ I was scared of what I would find, and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to help you, but I was mostly scared of facing _you_ again. Because I felt guilty. I still…" She sighed. "I still feel guilty. I know, and I think you know, too, that there was no way that I could have gone with you during the storm, but it was wrong of me to just… ignore it afterwards. I was hoping that, maybe, you were able to solve the problem on your own, that everything was okay. I went through a lot of things that day, including nearly losing someone that I loved." She looked at Pascal and placed a tender kiss on his forehead, before turning back to Varian. "But everything… everything turned out okay for me, in the end. For some reason, I applied that to you, and assumed… well, hoped that everything turned out okay for you, too. I mistook the fact that you didn't come back to ask for help for the fact that you didn't need help, although I know now that the reason you didn't come was because of the rumor that you attacked me. But that doesn't change the fact that I should have gone and made sure. I would have done that, now. I've learned. But I am still so, so sorry, Varian."

Varian took a deep, wobbling breath, letting it out slowly as he closed his eyes. Ruddiger stroked his cheek with his paw, purring sympathetically. He didn't say anything for a while, causing Rapunzel to begin to wonder if he was going to say anything at all, but once she opened her mouth to speak, he said quietly, "I'm sorry, too. For everything that I did." He rubbed at his eyes, which had started to glisten with tears. "For tricking you into stealing the flower with me, for attacking you with the automaton, for kidnapping your m-mom-" His voice cracked, and his breathing hitched. "I don't kn- I don't know what I was thinking. I just- just wanted my dad back, and I- and I-" He put his head in hands, apparently trying to stop himself from crying but failing miserably. "I thought it would make me feel better, but n-nothing worked and it didn't- it didn't-"

Rapunzel watched him in alarm as he broke down into tears, violent sobs wracking his small frame. 

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he repeated through the tears, choking on the words. Ruddiger frantically rubbed himself against Varian's neck, apparently trying to get the boy to calm down, but it had no effect.

Rapunzel stood, wanting to help but not sure what to do. Wait a second- _she_ wanted to help _Varian?_ That was new. She welcomed the impulse; even if it was just there because he was crying, and it was just so _awful,_ his sobs piercing her core with how broken and helpless and _real_ they sounded, it meant that she might be on the path to being able to forgive him. "Uh… Varian-" 

There was no response. He continued to repeat, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," as he cried, each repetition becoming less telligible than the last. His eyes were squeezed shut against his hands, his hair falling into and partially obscuring his face, but there was no mistaking the genuinity in his expression and voice. He just- he looked so small. And he was, physically, but… that wasn't quite it. A pang struck Rapunzel's heart as she realized what it was: he looked like a child. Truly like a child. And he was a child, she'd known that, she had, it had influenced her perception of him, driven her to ask her father to help him, have a small amount of mercy, but- It'd never been so glaringly obvious. Not even before everything went wrong. Everything suddenly felt twisted, wrong, unfair- He was just a child! Of course he wanted to save his dad! How could she have hated him so? 

Rapunzel nearly found herself biting back a sob of her own, but just as quickly as the strange revelation came, it disappeared; this was Varian. Varian, who'd lied and deluded Rapunzel into committing treason with him. Who'd unleashed a literal monster on her city. Who'd kidnapped her mother, her innocent _mom,_ and used her against Rapunzel so that he could capture her and her father, too. Who'd laughed at and mocked her and her family as he held them captive, having played them straight into his hands, who'd gripped Rapunzel's mom and Cass in cold iron hands, slowly squeezing the life out of them-

But he was sorry. He'd said it, was still saying it. He meant it. There was no doubt of that. And… he _had_ been through a lot, hadn't he? He didn't deserve to be ignored, not again, not after he'd already been ignored and cast out too many times before. 

So, Rapunzel found herself moving around to the other side of the table, taking the seat next to Varian as she leaned closer to him. "Varian." When there was still no response, she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him tightly, pulling him closer to her.

He finally reacted, gasping as his eyes flew open and he pulled his hands away from his face. "R-Rapunzel-"

Rapunzel squeezed him tighter. She hadn't been there for him before, when he needed her. She could at least be there now. "I know, I know-"

Varian shook his head frantically, pulling away. "No, you don't- you- no- Let me go-" He wrenched himself out of her grasp, to her confusion, and quickly stood, hugging his arms to his chest. 

Rapunzel frowned, also standing, and reached out for him. "Varian-"

He took a step back, out of her reach, and continued shaking his head. "Please, don't. Please," he pleaded.

Rapunzel let her hand fall, fiddling with the strap of her satchel. "Alright." She was confused; why didn't he want her to hug him? Hugs always made her feel better; the stronger the hug, the more comforting it was. 

Varian quickly wiped his eyes, once again staring at the floor. "Thanks."

Rapunzel smiled wistfully. "Yeah. No problem." They were silent for another few moments before she continued. "Does that have something to do with prison?"

Varian sighed shakily, his eyes resting on the stove. His face twisted momentarily before his expression became closed off, whatever emotion he had just displayed getting locked up before Rapunzel could identify it. "Kind of… A lot of it's- some of it's just me, though." 

"Oh." 

Varian seemed to gather himself, standing up straighter and putting his shoulders back. "Well, then, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna… go…"

Rapunzel nodded. "Of course." She stepped aside to let Varian pass, and he hurried by, heading back towards his room. Rapunzel wondered if he was going to cry more when he got there; she hoped not. After watching that, almost every preconceived notion that she had of him had been dashed. He wasn't looking for revenge, not anymore. She had a hard time believing that he would hurt her or her friends now; he'd sounded so honest, and he hadn't seemed hostile at all. Angry, a little bit, but that anger was subdued. He was mostly just… sad, and scared. _Looks like Eugene was right. He is different._

She took in the kitchen equipment in the galley and looked at Pascal. "Well then, should we get started on breakfast?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen a lot of fanfics where it takes ages for Varian to break down and apologize for his wrongs, but I need to stress here that in this fic, the main cast has not seen him for a long time. I headcanon that they've been on the road for about six months, having spent two of those months stuck on the island, at this point, and Varian's had all that time to really think about what he's done. I find it only natural that he would come to the conclusion that he, indeed, had messed up pretty badly; he's a really smart character, so he'd see the truth eventually. This doesn't mean that he forgives Rapunzel, however; far from it. Their relationship will still be plenty messy and everybody still has a long way to go to heal the past hurts. 
> 
> Let me know if you enjoyed, and I know I've said this on every chapter so far, but don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism! 
> 
> I'll try to get Chapter Five out on Saturday, August 17, but there are no guarantees on this one. I haven't finished the draft of that chapter yet, so it has quite a bit to go through before I can post it. I'll do my best, though! Feel free to nag me about it if I don't get it up on time; it'll motivate me to write faster.


	5. Respiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group has a lot of things to consider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really bad at summaries~
> 
> First of all, I am so, so sorry that this chapter is so late; real life got in the way (more specifically, band camp. If any of y'all are in high school marching band, you know what I'm talking about). 
> 
> Secondly, this chapter is even longer than the last one. I know that doesn't necessarily make up for the long wait, but it's another part of the reason it took me so long to finish this chapter.
> 
> Trigger warning: Panic attack? I think? Also, unrealistic resolution of said panic attack, probably.
> 
> And... I think that's it for now. Enjoy! :)

Eugene was woken by the sound of a hard rapping on the door to the men's side of the caravan-  _ Tap, tap, taptap, tap.  _ He sat up, rubbing at his eyes, as Rapunzel's voice sounded from outside: "Guys! Breakfast is ready!"

Eugene startled. Breakfast was ready? He'd thought they were all going to cook breakfast together. It was what they'd done the entire six months of their journey thus far.  _ Oh, well. I guess Blondie wanted to let us sleep. _

He slid out of bed and called, "Alright! We'll be out in a minute!"

Hook Foot and Lance were both sitting up, as well. Lance looked at Eugene in confusion. "I thought we were making breakfast together."

Eugene started getting dressed, inspecting his navy blue jacket for damage; it didn't look like Varian's tears had done anything permanent. Shrugging the jacket on, he said, "That's what I thought, too, but I guess not."

Hook Foot pulled on his boots and stood, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a smile. "Well, hey, at least that means we don't need to cook anything."

Lance frowned, also starting to get dressed. "But I like cooking. I was looking forward to it. We have an actual kitchen on this boat."

Eugene finished dressing and clapped Lance on the shoulder. "Don't fret, my friend. You can cook lunch today, if you want. And dinner. Just gotta beat Rapunzel to it."

Lance brightened at that. "So true! I'll do that."

Eugene nodded, running a hand through his hair and checking himself out in the mirror-  _ Still got it-  _ before opening the caravan door and stepping outside. 

It was earlier than he had expected; the sun was only just above the horizon.  _ Wow, Rapunzel must've gotten up really early to make breakfast.  _ He walked over to the railing and stared out at the ocean, sighing contentedly. He wouldn't miss the island much- he hadn't really enjoyed the 'natural living'- but he could still appreciate a beautiful morning and the fresh sea air. 

A presence came up on his side; he turned to find Cassandra to his right, also looking out at the water. He smiled at her; a few months ago, they'd been at each other's throats non-stop, but more recently, they'd been on much more friendly terms, and had grown to appreciate each other.

Cassandra returned his smile before looking back at the water. "So, Fitzherbert, you think you can avoid falling overboard again for one more day?"

Eugene scoffed playfully. "Oh, sure. I mean, as long as you don't drive me to jump off with your horrible sense of humor, I'll be fine."

Cassandra mock gasped. "Oh, my, was that what it was?" She punched his shoulder gently. "You wound me."

Eugene laughed. "Surely not. You are an immovable rock, incapable of emotion. How could one such measly jeer cause you injury?"

Cassandra smirked. "Alright, that's enough." Her smile fell, her expression becoming more somber. "I actually needed to talk to you about something serious."

Eugene immediately dropped the playful act, turning to face her. "Oh, uh, alright. What is it?" 

Cassandra glanced back at the caravan. "Something's up with Raps. She woke up at four in the morning and left, and didn't ever go back to sleep."

Eugene put his chin in his hand. "That doesn't sound too strange. Blondie gets up in the middle of the night all the time."

Cassandra eyes hardened. "I know. But something didn't feel right. I just… I had this gut feeling."

Eugene's heart sank. Cassandra's gut feelings were usually right. "Alright. What do you think she was doing?"

Cassandra sighed. "I don't know. I feel like… it had to do with Varian. She came to bed a few minutes late last night, and before that, she sounded really… strained when we were talking about him?"

"Varian?" Eugene considered Rapunzel's behavior the night prior; she had been uncharacteristically worried, and he did have to admit that the source of that worry seemed to stem from discussion of Varian. "Huh… You're right about that." He dragged a hand down his face. "I'm sure it was nothing serious. Rapunzel's smart, I don't think she'd do anything to him… We shouldn't jump to conclusions. But you know what, I'll ask him about it when I collect him for breakfast."

Cassandra nodded. "Alright. It was probably nothing." Eugene turned to leave, but Cassandra put a hand on his arm, preventing him from going. "Something else. When you get Varian, can you tell him I'm going to punch him in the face?"

Eugene laughed. "Oh, haha, Cass, that's a good one! I'd thought you were hopeless in terms of humor, but…" His smile dropped when he saw Cassandra's expression. There was no hint of humor there, her eyes narrowed and flinty. "Oh. Oh, you're not joking. Uh…" He shrugged her hand off and put his own hand on her shoulder. "Look, Cass, I see why you want to do that, I really do, but I am seriously asking you to reconsider here. Varian already doesn't really trust us much, and punching him in the face will not help that matter."

Cassandra shoved Eugene's hand off, taking a step back. "I'm not taking no for an answer, Fitzherbert. I need to do it."

Eugene let out a long exhale. "Okay, alright, fine. But why are you telling me to give him a warning? Doesn't that… defeat the purpose?"

Cassandra shook her head, her dark curls bouncing. "Not at all." She gestured down the stairs, towards Varian's room. "I'm mad at him. He tried to kill me, and he hurt my best friend. The thing is, I can't help but look at him and think, 'That's Varian. That's that nice kid that helped me out at the science expo, the kid who made a new element and named it after me just because he liked me.' And even if that Varian was kind of annoying, he was still a nice, sweet kid. He was… He was my friend." Her hand formed a fist. "I want to get that Varian back. But I can't do that unless I get some closure for what he did to me and Rapunzel. And my dad. So, I'll just…" She mimed throwing a punch. "That'll make me feel better. It's been too long since I've really punched somebody. It's the sensation I need, not the surprise, so if he knows in advance, my hope is that he'll understand. Not be as mad."

Eugene closed his eyes. "Oh, Cass, I really don't think you should do that. He's in really bad shape right now." He opened his eyes again. "Like, I'm glad you're not mad at him enough to want to kill him, since I know you can get like that sometimes, but you could seriously hurt him."

Cassandra flexed her hand. "I won't hit him  _ that  _ hard. Just, you know, hard enough to bruise. I won't dislocate his jaw or anything."

Eugene sighed, relenting. "Okay, I'll let him know. Just… really think about it, okay?" He walked away off towards the stairs belowdecks, muttering to himself. "Oh, these people are so weird. Why does everybody in this party have to be so weird?"

"I can hear you, you know. We're going in the same direction."

Eugene jumped, looking behind himself. Cassandra was indeed right behind him, walking in the same direction as him. "Well, it's true," he said defensively. "You're weird, Hook Foot's weird, Lance, my gosh, he's weird. Even Blondie is pretty weird."

Cass rose an eyebrow at him. "And you're saying that you're  _ not  _ weird?"

Eugene crossed his arms as he walked, turning away from Cassandra. "Less weird than you."

He could practically hear Cassandra roll her eyes. "Alright, Fitzherbert. Remind me again why I'm punching Varian in the face and not you?"

Eugene came to the point where the hall leading to the guest rooms broke off from the main hallway. "See you at breakfast, Cass!" he called as he speedwalked away, leaving Cassandra to walk in the other direction towards the galley. He had no doubt that, had the conversation continued, Cassandra  _ would _ have punched him in the face at some point. 

He slowed as he approached the guest rooms, surprised to see that the door leading to Varian's room was wide open. He stepped up to the doorway, knocking his fist against the doorjamb. "Knock, knock? Varian? Can I come in?" He started to lean into the room, then yelped in surprise when something barreled into him, pushing him back out into the hallway.

"D-d-d-don't close the door!" Varian jumped back away from Eugene, his eyes wide and panicked. He positioned himself somewhat to the side of the doorway, blocking Eugene's access to the room but also making it impossible for Eugene to keep him from leaving.

Eugene took a step back. "Whoa, kid, what was that?" He took in Varian's frightened expression and trembling hands, concern starting to manifest in his mind. "Are you okay?"

Varian ran both of his hands through his hair, tugging at the thick, dark strands anxiously. "No, no, I'm not! No!" 

Eugene wanted so desperately to put a comforting hand on Varian's shoulder, but had a feeling that Varian would not take it well in this state, so he simply bent down a bit and looked at Varian gently. "What's wrong, Varian?"

Varian lurched over to the other side of the doorway, the side unattached to the door, pointing at a spot on the wall. "L-look!"

Eugene looked; Varian was pointing to a place where it looked like the purple paint on the wall had been chipped. Looked pretty ordinary. "Um, what am I looking at?"

Varian turned to face Eugene, his eyes pleading. "The princess- Princess Rapunzel locked me in here last night!"

Eugene's heart skipped a beat. "What?" 

Varian nodded frantically, his breaths coming short and fast. "She did something to the door! This chip wasn't there last night!"

Eugene straightened. "Wait a second, slow down. Deep breaths. Tell me exactly what's going on in a  _ calm, civilized  _ manner."

Varian didn't seem to listen, already continuing to speak rapidly and fearfully. "This- this morning- I couldn't get out- the door was stuck- I was trapped-" He started to hyperventilate, his words becoming unintelligible.

"Varian!" Eugene said sharply, fixing the boy with a firm stare. "Calm down. Stop talking for a second. Deeeeep breaths." Eugene took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, to demonstrate.

Varian seemingly attempted to do what Eugene told him to, no longer speaking and taking longer breaths, but he still seemed pretty panicked. Once Eugene had felt that Varian had calmed down enough, he bent down again to make eye contact with the boy.

"Hey, it's okay. You're doing a good job. Now, what is this you're telling me about the door?"

Varian swallowed, glancing back at the door. "It- it was s-stuck. This morning, really early. I-I-I didn't know what time it was, but, uh, I woke up and wanted to t-take a walk, but the door… It wouldn't open. So I- so I waited for a while, about an hour, maybe, and the Princess showed up." He lowered his voice, glancing around fearfully. "But- but she didn't knock. I heard a clanging noise and kind of just assumed it was you, 'cause I was waiting for you, so I went to open the door, and it opened, and she was there."

Eugene thought back to what Cass had told him about Rapunzel getting up really early- her story matched Varian's. He didn't think he liked where this was going. "Okay, what happened next?"

Varian started fidgeting with his hands, still glancing around nervously. "Well, she said hi, and I called her 'Your Highness' and she didn't like that, and then I asked if you were there and you weren't, and then we just kind of stood there for a few seconds. I thought- I thought she was there to t-take me to breakfast, but she wasn't making any sort of move to do that, so I asked her if we were gonna get going and she had no idea what I was talking about, so I was getting a little suspicious at that point. But then she said she came because she wanted to talk to me, but she really didn't sound sure about it? It… it looked like she had just thought of it on the spot. But since she's, y'know, the Princess, I couldn't say  _ no _ , so, I went with it, and she took me to the galley, and we talked, and- and then I left and came back here and saw the chip."

Eugene saw the pieces fall into place, his heart sinking. "So… you're saying that you think Rapunzel did something to the door last night to keep you in, and came back early this morning to undo whatever it was?" That would match what Cass had said about Rapunzel leaving the caravan really early, and would explain her bad feeling about it. And she  _ had  _ gone to bed late. As much as he didn't want to believe that Rapunzel would do such a thing, the evidence was stacked against her, and with her mood the night before… Eugene had to admit, it was possible.

Varian nodded. "Y-yeah. I think she- I think she barred the door somehow. Like, put something across the doorknob." He pressed his hands to the sides of his face, and then wrung them nervously. "Are you guys- are you guys playing some sort of really elaborate joke on me? As- as revenge, o-or something? Because it's not funny- I was- I was really scared- If you're going to put me back in jail, just do it already- I don't- I don't need all this-"

Eugene waved his hands in front of himself emphatically. "No, no, no, Varian! Of course not!" His heart broke for the poor kid; for Varian to even imagine that they would do something so ludicrous… He must have been really freaked out. "You're not going back to jail. We would never do something like that to you, or to anybody. You must know that!" 

Varian hugged his arms to himself, gripping them so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Rapunzel doesn't like me! How would  _ you  _ know- How would you know whether she would do something like that?"

Now that just didn't make sense; Eugene had been the one to free Varian and bring him aboard the ferry, so if there  _ was  _ some sort of sick joke being played on Varian and they were planning on sending him back to prison, Rapunzel was not the correct person to accuse. "Kid, I don't know what you're talking about!" Despite himself, Eugene could hear his voice rising in pitch, his speech becoming faster. Varian's panic was beginning to rub off on him; not good. "Please stop freaking out! If  _ you  _ don't stop freaking out, it's gonna make  _ me  _ start freaking out, and then we'll both just be freaking out and nothing will get solved! Okay?"

Varian snapped his mouth shut, apparently heeding Eugene's words. 

Eugene sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, kiddo. It's just, when I freak out, it's really not pretty."

Varian nodded. "S-sure. Sorry." He took several deep breaths, closing his eyes. Eventually, his grip on his arms relaxed and he dropped them, letting out a long exhale. "Okay. Okay, I think I-I'm okay now."

"Cool." Eugene put his hands on his hips. "So, if you're saying that you think Rapunzel locked you in your room last night, I believe you." Varian sagged visibly with relief- Eugene suspected that he hadn't expected Eugene to distrust his own girlfriend, but he couldn't argue with logic. "Cass told me that she was suspicious that Rapunzel did something to you because she went to bed late, and your story matches hers. Oh, on the subject of Cass…" Eugene tapped his chin thoughtfully. How to break the news? He supposed there was no use beating around the bush. "She told me to tell you that she's going to punch you in the face."

Varian's eyes widened in alarm. "W-what?" He shook the expression away, then stared at the ground sadly. "Well, I mean, I guess I deserve that. I did try to kill her, so…" He tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, why did she tell you to tell me? That's kind of weird, that she'd warn me in advance."

Eugene shrugged. "She said that she hoped that if you knew about it, you'd be able to understand or something. She wants to help you, but she thinks she needs to resolve her anger before she can do that."

Varian nodded, swallowing. "That- that makes sense, I suppose." He looked to the side, twirling his index fingers around each other. "Uh, did she… did she tell you when I might be able to expect… this punch?" 

Eugene was somewhat surprised at how well Varian was handling the information; if it had been  _ him  _ that was told to expect a punch in the face from Cass, he would have probably been begging for mercy already. Eugene shook his head. "Sorry, but nope. My bet is that she'll get it over with as soon as possible, so I guess you should just be expecting it when you see her."

"Right… okay." Varian sighed. "Thanks."

Eugene waved a hand dismissively. "Sure, no problem. You ready to get going?"

Varian dragged a hand down his face, leaning back against the wall behind him. "I… I guess." There was a note of reluctance to his voice, the words hesitant.

"Hey, you sure? You don't really sound like it." If Varian didn't want to join the others for breakfast, Eugene could perfectly understand why; the prospect of getting punched in the face was not appealing, and neither was facing the people who'd locked him up.

"Uh, yeah." Varian peeled himself off of the wall, stepping up to Eugene. "I-I-I'm ready." He looked back into his room, to where Ruddiger sat on the bed, and jerked his head to the side, gesturing for the racoon to join him. Ruddiger hopped down and trotted over, leaping up onto Varian's shoulders with a chirp before nuzzling the boy's neck. Eugene was glad for Ruddiger's existence; he suspected that the racoon was likely one of the only reasons that Varian was still sane, after everything that had happened to him.

Eugene spread his hands in front of himself, his palms up placatingly. "Look, Varian, you don't need to do this yet if you don't want to." He didn't want to pressure Varian into joining him; he had the feeling that Varian hadn't really been able to make a whole lot of his own choices in prison, and might feel obligated to do whatever was suggested. 

Varian bristled. "It's fine! Let's go!" Despite the alchemist's words, Eugene could detect a hint of trepidation behind Varian's passive-aggressive tone.

"You're absolutely certain? I know that you associate us with a traumatic time in your life and I get it if you're not quite ready to face everybody. I could just bring something to your room for you to eat if you want."

"No, I'm fine!" Varian began walking past Eugene in the direction of the galley, his jaw clenched.

Eugene shrugged. "Well, if you insist. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Varian stopped walking. He turned back to glare at Eugene, opening his mouth to say something, but then seemed to change his mind. He shook his head, his gaze dropping. "Sorry. Uh, I mean, thanks. I just…" He sighed. "Never mind." He looked back up again. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Eugene walked up to Varian and tentatively reached out to put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Varian watched the movement but made no motion to pull away, so Eugene completed the action. Why was it so much easier to talk like this? Body language never made sense. "It's okay to not be okay, you know. You don't need to pretend that everything is fine when it's not."

Varian stared up at him, not saying anything for a few moments, before his brows furrowed and he frowned. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think you could benefit from hearing it. If you need to talk to somebody, I'm here." Eugene knew he was being somewhat cryptic, but figured Varian would respond to that better than bringing up any one specific traumatic event. 

"Okay, you're being weird. Stop it." Varian took a step back, pulling his shoulder out of Eugene's light grasp, and Eugene let his hand fall. That hadn't gone stupendously, but it was about as he had expected. At least he had made a degree of progress with the physical contact thing. It hadn't escaped his notice that Varian seemed averse to touch, possibly from his treatment in prison, but Eugene hoped to change that. 

Eugene also took a step back. "Alright, alright." 

There were a few moments of silence, then Varian's stomach rumbled. The boy's face went bright red, and Eugene suppressed a chuckle. "You hungry? 'Cause I sure am. Blondie's already made breakfast, so it should be there when we get to the galley."

"Uh, y-y-yeah," Varian stammered, still evidently embarrassed. 

Eugene resisted reaching out to ruffle Varian's hair and walked past him towards the galley. "Well then, to breakfast we go." He heard the sound of Varian's footsteps behind him and slowed so that they were walking next to each other. "Granted you do actually want to come."

Varian nodded. "Yeah."

***

Apprehension sat like a brick in Varian's stomach. He'd insisted to Eugene that he was fine, it was all fine, he could face everyone, but in reality, he just wanted to curl up in a ball on the floor and disappear. And how could one expect him to feel otherwise? He felt like he was marching to his doom; these were people that he'd tried to kill just a few months ago, and he'd almost succeeded. There was no way he'd be met with open arms. It continued to baffle him as to why Eugene was still being so nice; he supposed that there'd never really been anything personal about it with him, so it was easier for Eugene to forgive him, but it wasn't like Varian was no longer a convicted criminal. What the man had said about Varian being an orphan and that was why he was sympathetic fell flat; Varian was not an orphan. There had to be more to it.

Varian watched Eugene sidelong as they walked, trying to read the man's body language. He didn't seem tense in the slightest; his shoulders and face were totally relaxed, a small smile upon his lips. His eyes wandered around, his gaze catching on the occasional object, but it looked perfectly natural. It wasn't like he was purposely avoiding looking at Varian or anything. He was comfortable.

_ He trusts me.  _ That much was obvious; Eugene didn't even look armed. Of course, Eugene was a well-rested, healthy full-grown man while Varian was a malnourished, sleep-deprived fifteen-year old, so if Varian had decided to attack him, it wouldn't have been much of a fight, but Eugene didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that he was walking next to the potentially most dangerous criminal of the decade. To his surprise, Varian felt a twinge of frustration go through him at that revelation; was he never to be taken seriously? He  _ was  _ dangerous! His plan to enact revenge would have worked had the Princess not connected with the rocks! 

A wave of guilt washed over him- he shouldn't be thinking like that. He didn't want to hurt anyone. It was good that Eugene trusted him. It was good that his plan had failed; otherwise, he would have had blood on his conscience, and he probably never would have been able to realize that what he had been doing would not have made his dad proud.  _ Still though… Eugene should be more concerned. _

Suddenly, Eugene spoke. "So… you said you and Rapunzel talked this morning. What'd you talk about?" His voice was unreadable.

Varian hugged his arms to his chest, thinking back on their conversation. Man, he'd cried again. How pathetic. He really needed to stop doing that. "Why don't you just ask her?"

"I'd like to have your account. I trust Rapunzel, truly, but her opinion of you could potentially cause her to misinterpret things."

"And you're saying that my opinion of her wouldn't cause me to 'misinterpret things'?"

Eugene considered that for a moment. "You make a fair point, but if you don't want to talk about it, you can just tell me. Like you said, I could just ask Rapunzel."

Varian frowned- how had Eugene guessed that he didn't want to talk about it? "Yeah… I don't want to talk about it."

"No worries. Well, actually, now I am worried. I have quite a few things I need to talk to Blondie about now. But  _ you  _ shouldn't worry- I'll handle it. I also plan to ask her about locking you in your room, because if she did really do that, she's crossed a line."

Varian looked at Eugene in surprise. "Oh, really? Thank you." He'd been afraid that Eugene would just let the incident slide; Rapunzel was his girlfriend, after all, so it was a huge relief to see that his rights would not be regularly violated, at least with Eugene around.

Eugene nodded and said, "Of course," before the pair was silent for a few moments. Then Eugene continued, "Say, kid, do you know what chutney is?" His tone was no longer troubled. Varian would even say that it was cheerful.

Varian startled. That was quite the abrupt subject change. "Ch-chutney?" Was this small talk? Eugene was making small talk with him? Why? It wasn't like they were friends.

Eugene nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. I don't know what it is, and I keep forgetting to ask. It just crossed my mind. Do you know?" He looked to the side at Varian, genuine curiosity evident in his eyes.

Varian stared blankly for a few moments, then blinked. "Um, yeah. Yes. It's… Chutney's like... a sort of- of fruit compote. Like jam."

Eugene raised both eyebrows, appearing interested. "Really? And I've been thinking it was a type of knitting pattern this whole time. Why don't people just call it jam?"

This was weird. What was Eugene getting at? "Uh… I'm not really sure. I-I think it has bigger pieces of fruit? Like, where jam is mashed, chutney's diced. And there's usually spices and stuff in it. Something like that." Varian shrugged. 

Eugene put his chin in his hand, squinting thoughtfully. "Hmm. Do you like it?"

"Do I- do I like chutney?"

Eugene nodded.

Varian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking to the side. "Well, I… I'm not that much of a sweets guy, so I can't say that I love it, but it's alright, I guess. I haven't had it in years." 

"Not a sweets guy? Really?" Eugene stared at Varian with incredulity. "For some reason, I'd always pegged you as having a real sweet tooth." He turned away again. "Guess you learn something new every day."

Varian said nothing. He didn't like that they were having this conversation; the fact that he wasn't a big fan of sweets was something that only his dad had ever known, and for some reason, sharing it with Eugene felt… wrong. It felt like the sort of thing that only friends should know. 

Eugene seemed to sense Varian's discomfort, moving the smallest bit away, and didn't continue the conversation. Once again, Varian found himself wondering why Eugene was being so kind to him. He was grateful, of course, but it just didn't make sense. Eugene was aware that Varian had attempted to murder his girlfriend, right? Varian decided not to question it- that was just how Eugene Fitzherbert rolled, he supposed. Didn't mean it didn't feel strange, though.

After a minute or so of walking, Varian became aware of the fact that he and Eugene were approaching the galley. Suddenly, his heart shot into his mouth- he was really doing it. He was going to be in the same room as his once-enemies- and yeah, he'd talked to Rapunzel that morning, so at least he'd gotten over that hurdle a little bit, but that had been before he'd realized that she'd locked him in his room. How was he supposed to face her knowing that? She obviously didn't trust him; there was no way he could trust her. On the other hand, she had apologized, so perhaps it wasn't as bad as it appeared, but what if her apology was insincere? Sure, she'd  _ seemed  _ like she was being genuine, but Varian knew firsthand how misleading she could be. He'd had such faith that she would uphold her promise to help him a year ago, yet she'd betrayed him, not once even bothering to check up on him or send a message. 

A worse possibility crossed Varian's mind. What if, now that they had both apologized, she just assumed that everything was fine between them? It most certainly was not, at least for him. It would take much more than a simple apology to get him to forgive her for what she'd done to him; her mistakes and failure to correct those mistakes had destroyed his life, had forced him to endure the scorn and hate of a kingdom he had formerly revered. He couldn't say that he didn't want things to be fixed between them, but… it would take a lot.

And then there was Cassandra. Varian was especially anxious about seeing her again; unlike with Eugene, he'd actually been friends with her before the snowstorm. Or, at least he'd thought. Like Eugene, she'd also participated in the assault on Old Corona, and had even tried to (rather foolishly, as she only wielded a simple sword while he commanded an enormous cast-iron mecha) directly attack him. And  _ she'd  _ been present when Varian had begged Rapunzel for help, so she couldn't use the excuse of not knowing about his problem. He supposed she had good reason to be angry at him, since he had nearly killed her, but he couldn't say that he was looking forward to getting punched in the face; he knew how strong she was and had no doubt that it would hurt quite a bit.  _ But she's doing it to resolve her anger, right? Eugene said she wanted to help me.  _ Help him with what, though? Was she going to try to convert him back into a law-abiding citizen? Because he'd already taken care of that; her assistance would not be necessary. He supposed he'd find out when they talked.

There were those two other guys, too. Varian didn't have any clue who they were or what they thought of him; they had agreed to let him join their group, so they at least seemed like they would tolerate him, but he couldn't be sure. What if they hated him? He knew that his automatons were capable of causing serious damage, and many people had been injured during the assault, so it wasn't difficult to imagine that they or someone that they knew had been hurt. Even though he didn't know them, it was possible for them to hold a grudge against him.

Varian glanced at Eugene, the older man's presence calming him a bit. He didn't think that Eugene would've been taking Varian to see everyone if he thought that they'd hurt him; Eugene did seem to genuinely care about him. He'd been willing to sacrifice himself to save Varian on the prison barge, after all. 

Eugene caught Varian's look and smiled warmly before turning back to face front. "Well, we're here."

They stood a few yards before the threshold to the galley, from which the sounds of conversation and the clinking of kitchen tools and utensils emanated. Varian started to step forward to cross the last bit of hall to enter, but Eugene stopped him, his expression growing more serious. 

"So, kid, I may have convinced my friends to let you stay with us, but nobody else quite trusts you yet. I don't wanna scare you off because I think this is an important step in the right direction for everybody, but if I were you, I'd try to appear as non-threatening as possible. Even though I can clearly see that you are not a homicidal psychopath anymore, the others may not have grasped that yet." Eugene took in Varian's rather ragged appearance. "Although, the way you are now, you probably won't have that much hard of a time."

Varian looked down at himself, then nodded shakily. "U-uh-huh." He looked up, his mouth going dry. "What- what, um, makes you say that I'm not a homicidal psychopath anymore?" He realized how bad that sounded and rushedly continued, "I mean, you're not wrong! But, it's just…" He looked to the side, swallowing. "I haven't really done anything to prove to you that I'm any different."

Eugene's eyes widened in surprise. "Haven't done anythi- Varian, you've done plenty!" He started counting off on his fingers. "Firstly, you apologized, on the barge. Very emotional, that was. You also, quite adorably, may I add, praised me for outsmarting the Stabbington brothers, which I have serious doubts you would have done if you ever intended to murder me. In addition to that, you protected my friends from death by cannon at the risk of your own life, and not once have you made a move to hurt me or anybody else, for that matter. Clearly, you're not the same person who I fought in Old Corona six months ago."

Varian ignored the fact that Eugene had essentially called him adorable and said, "Oh. Well… That's nice, I guess."

"Varian, I think it's possible for anyone to change." Eugene gestured at himself. "I mean, I'm a prime example. I used to be a back-stabbing, good-for-nothing thief until Rapunzel came along and shook up my life. And look at me now! I'd say my moral compass has straightened itself out. Amiright?"

Varian nodded hesitantly. He hadn't known Eugene at all personally before said reformation, but he did know that Eugene used to be an infamous thief. He'd made a shrine dedicated to him, after all; even though it was mostly for the Flynnigan Rider of the books, he still had practically worshipped Eugene (before he called himself Eugene). He'd never had the heart to get rid of the shrine, even after he stole the Sundrop flower and Eugene had tried to arrest him. He could bet that it was still in his house back in Old Corona, collecting dust. That was, if the black rocks hadn't managed to destroy it. He was uncertain what exactly was going on with the black rocks; he'd seen them react to Rapunzel, seen them make that strange sort of path leading outside of the wall, but other than that, he had nothing. In prison, information about the royal proceedings was never given out, even when he asked, and if he asked about his father, the guards would just say that research was "in progress." Never any details. He guessed that that was because no actual progress had been made, either because the researchers were just as stymied as he was on how to break the amber, or because no one had actually tried. He had been furious with that at the time, but now he supposed that it made sense; Princess Rapunzel was on this quest, so if anything could save his dad, it was this, not some random royal scientists who probably weren't even as qualified as he was. Even so, it would have been nice to know that the Princess was doing something; it could have spared him a lot of grief. 

Eugene's voice startled him. "Hey, Varian? You there?"

Varian jumped. "Uh, yeah! Sorry, just… zoned out for a second…" He felt a light blush spread across his cheeks.

Eugene smiled. "It's all cool." He turned towards the galley and began walking the short distance to the doorway. "You ready?"

Varian nodded, following. "Yeah."

The pair entered, and, almost immediately, the conversation inside the galley stopped. As was expected, Rapunzel, Cassandra, and the two strangers sat at the table before a wide spread of food, their plates already filled. There was a small, bearded old man sleeping on the table, to Varian's confusion, and Rapunzel's chameleon- Pascal was his name, right?- perched upon the Princess' shoulder. There was no sign of the captain of the ferry, whom Varian had met very briefly the night before, but he supposed that was just as well- the captain hadn't seemed too fond of harboring a convicted criminal on his boat.

Varian stiffened as every pair of eyes save the strange sleeping man's and Eugene's came to rest on him. He glanced back at the door, wondering if it was too late to back out, decided that it was, and shifted a little bit closer to Eugene. 

Eugene waved at the group. "Hey, you guys! Wow, quite a spread we've got here!" He walked over to the table, and Varian stumbled after him, not wanting to approach the group but wanting even less to stand awkwardly by himself at the door. Eugene's gaze fell on a basket of puffed square pastries, and his jaw dropped. "My gosh, are those  _ beignets?  _ Blondie, just how early did you get up to make all this?"

Princess Rapunzel's cheeks pinked, and she twirled a strand of hair around her finger, looking uncomfortably to the side. "Um, four o' clock. But-"

She was interrupted by one of the strangers, the one with dark skin and big earrings, who stood and grinned. "Eugene, my man! I see you brought the kid!" He walked around the table to where Eugene and Varian stood, then extended his hand to Varian. "Pleasure to meet you!"

"Uh…" Varian stared at the man's hand for a moment before looking to Eugene for guidance. He had not been expecting to be welcomed.

Eugene chuckled, clapping a hand on the stranger's shoulder. "Varian, this is Lance. He's an old friend of mine. We used to be partners in crime, literally, although both of us are reformed now. Like you." Was it just Varian, or was there a note of relief in his voice?

"Um, okay…" Varian gingerly shook Lance's hand. It felt strange; it'd been years since he'd shaken anyone's hand without gloves on, and he couldn't say that it was exactly pleasant. He let go as soon as he could, wishing he still had his old accessories. His gloves, apron, and goggles had all been confiscated shortly after his arrest, and even though he'd been allowed to keep the rest of his clothes, he still felt partially incomplete without his scientific garb. 

Eugene beamed. "Welp, there's one introduction. We got one more." He turned to the other stranger, a rugged-looking man with dark hair. "Varian, this is Hook Foot. Hook Foot, Varian." He leaned in and whispered in Varian's ear, "He's named Hook Foot 'cause he has a hook for a foot."

Hook Foot eyed Varian warily, then looked at Eugene and said gruffly, "You're sure that this is the same guy who we led the assault on in Old Corona? He's a bit smaller than I remember. Like, a lot smaller."

Varian chuckled nervously. "Uh, I think y-you're thinking of my mecha. It's me." This was more like what he'd been expecting; caution and distrust. He moved even closer to Eugene, practically hiding behind the man.

Rapunzel stood up, a strained smile plastered on her face. "Okay, great, you guys know each other now. Why don't we all just… have a seat and enjoy our meal, hmm?"

Eugene rubbed his stomach. "Great idea. I'm starving." He moved to a pair of empty chairs at the table, taking the one next to Lance, who had already taken his seat and was shoveling a fried egg into his mouth. That left one empty spot next to him, which Varian took. 

There was no one to his left, as the table could only seat six, with three on each side lengthwise, but across from him was Cassandra, with Rapunzel to her left, and Hook Foot on the far side. An awkward quiet settled over the room save the sounds of chewing from Lance as Rapunzel and Hook Foot pointedly ignored Varian's presence while Eugene began to make a plate for himself. Cassandra watched Varian warily, her gaze unwavering, which made him feel distinctly self-conscious.

Once Eugene had a heaping pile of food assembled, he elbowed Varian gently in the side. "Hey, you gonna get anything?" He took a bite of one of the square pastries. "Blondie made  _ beignets.  _ Have you any idea how long these take to make?" He swallowed. "They're incredible, by the way."

Varian did not know what a beignet even was, let alone how long they took to make. It suddenly occurred to him that it was possibly not the best idea to consume food prepared by Rapunzel, or anyone other than Eugene or himself, for that matter. How was he to know if it was poisoned or not? Maybe it was irrational to fear that, but… it wouldn't be the first time. One time, in prison, a guard had slipped a toxic agent into Varian's food, having held a grudge for an injury suffered during the battle at Old Corona. Varian had been hospitalized for three days, but the guard was acquitted at trial. "Um… I think I've lost my appetite," he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and staring into his lap.

He could feel everyone's eyes on him, but didn't look up. Ruddiger purred with concern, brushing his tail along Varian's cheek, but Varian didn't react. Ruddiger wouldn't be able to understand.

Eugene pushed back his chair a small amount and leaned in towards Varian, whispering, "You okay?"

Varian gulped; he couldn't explain it to Eugene, not in front of everyone else. "Yeah. Just… not hungry." He tried to ignore the fact that Cassandra was still staring at him wordlessly, watching him attentively without betraying a hint of emotion. He looked up briefly, if only to gauge whether his safety was potentially in any imminent danger, and saw that Cassandra's gaze was fixed at some point on his face below his eyes. What was she looking at? Really, it was rude to stare like that. Did he have something on his face? If so, why hadn't Eugene said anything?

Suddenly, Cassandra spoke, startling him. "Okay, a few things. First up, he doesn't want to eat because he thinks the food might be poisoned. Secondly-"

Rapunzel stood abruptly, her eyes widening in shock. "Poisoned?!" she exclaimed, drawing her fists to her chest as her long braid swung behind her. "I- It's not- I would never do that!" She gestured at the array of food with one hand, stammering, "I-it's all fine! I swear! You can eat it! I wouldn't- That would be horrible!"

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "We know, Raps. Just- Listen for a second, okay?"

Rapunzel sat back down, looking at Varian with pity and confusion in her eyes. He looked away quickly, finding her expression disturbing.

Cassandra continued. "Secondly, there's been an obvious breach of protocol." She pointed to Varian's face, and he squirmed under the attention. "Varian's been gagged. Those marks on his face could not be caused by anything else."

Varian raised a hand to touch his face- there were marks? He hadn't looked in a mirror in a quite a while. He supposed the skin on his cheeks did burn a bit, especially near his mouth; he hoped it didn't look too bad.

Cassandra gritted her teeth. "I need you to answer me honestly, Varian. Was it Corona that did that to you, or the other prisoners during the mutiny?"

Varian glanced at Eugene, who gave him an encouraging nod. "Uh- both? Why-"

Cassandra stood and slammed a fist down on the table, causing everyone to jump. "Ugh, Dad! How many times-" She groaned, pressing the heel of a hand against her forehead. "I  _ was  _ going to punch you, Varian, but now I don't think I will." She sat down heavily. 

"Um… thanks…?"

Cassandra raised her head, looking at Rapunzel. "One more thing. This one's for you, Raps." Her eyes narrowed. "I know that you got up early and made breakfast, but you were being uncharacteristically careful to not wake me up when you did so." At Rapunzel's surprised expression, she continued, "Yeah, I woke up. So, you were also doing something else. And, last night, you came to bed ten minutes late. What were you doing?" She crossed her arms.

Eugene grimaced. "Uh, I was actually going to discuss that with Rapunzel after breakfast, but I guess now works, too." He shrugged, his palms towards the ceiling.

Cassandra looked at Eugene and then at Varian, pursing her lips. She sat back in her seat. "Actually, you do that. I gather you know more about the situation than I do?"

Eugene nodded. "Yes, I believe we do. And it's kind of something that I think Blondie and I need to discuss in private." His gaze flitted over to Rapunzel, who was looking about as uncomfortable as Varian felt. Some small part of his mind was crying a victory cheer, because haha,  _ that's  _ what you get for locking him in his room, but most of him just wanted to run away and hide.

There were a few moments of awkward silence at the table save snoring from the sleeping old man. Then, Lance took a bite of a beignet, his eyes widening in surprise as he swallowed the pastry. He pointed at what remained and said, "You really outdid yourself with these, Princess." He shoved the rest of the beignet into his mouth, reaching for another one.

Rapunzel smiled. "Thanks."

That seemed to break the tension, and everyone started to eat again. Eugene gestured at the food before him. "Varian, it's not poisoned. We wouldn't be eating it if it was."

That was true; it would've been awfully dangerous for Rapunzel to poison a buffet-style meal like this. Just to be safe, though, Varian only took things that he clearly saw the others eat, and tested it himself before giving any to Ruddiger. It was actually very good food; Rapunzel had clearly put a lot of effort into making it. The beignets were a little bit too rich for his liking, but Ruddiger seemed to really enjoy them.

After a few minutes, the others seemed to be able to converse without his presence bothering them, but Cassandra was staring at him again. He tried to ignore it and kept his gaze lowered, but he couldn't help the frustrated blush that spread up his neck. What was her deal? 

Eventually, Eugene seemed to take notice. "Cass, can you maybe stop? Staring at him like that? You're making him uncomfortable."

Cassandra looked at Eugene. "I'm observing."

Eugene raised his eyes to the ceiling, huffing exasperatedly. "Observing what?"

"It'd be kind of dumb to say with the kid right in front of us, wouldn't you think?"

"Well, whatever it is, he has a right to know, I think, if it's concerning him!"

To Varian's surprise, Cassandra conceded, sighing. "You're right." She met Varian's gaze, and he quickly looked away again. "I need to talk to you in private, kid. Maybe after breakfast while Eugene and Rapunzel have their little chat, too."

Varian fidgeted uneasily- a one-on-one with Cassandra did not sound appealing, but he supposed that if he refused, he would have bigger fish to fry. "O-okay."

Eugene leaned forward, laying his hands on the table. "Wait, so now you're telling him, but not me?"

Cassandra shook her head. "No, I'll tell you what I've observed, but I need confirmation from Varian first."

Eugene relaxed, picking up his fork again. "Ah, I see. Makes sense."

The conversation was dropped, and within a short while, everyone had finished eating. There was still a decent amount of food left uneaten, but Rapunzel said that she would give it to the captain, who hadn't shown up.

They cleared the table efficiently, and shortly, the galley appeared as if no one had been there. Eugene gently tapped Varian's shoulder, catching his attention, and he turned to face the older man. 

Eugene pointed at Princess Rapunzel, who stood by the door. "I'm going to talk with Rapunzel now. Good luck with Cass."

Varian nodded, swallowing. "Sure. Thanks."

"Yep." Eugene strode over to Rapunzel, and they exited the galley together. Varian noticed that Rapunzel looked rather unhappy, a small frown on her lips and her eyebrows tilted upwards. He found himself enjoying it for a moment before mentally berating himself; he shouldn't take pleasure in other people's suffering. Even if it was Rapunzel. He didn't believe that she had ever derived any satisfaction from  _ his _ pain, even if she had caused it, so it wouldn't be fair of him to derive satisfaction from hers.

Cassandra stepped up to Varian, one hand on her hip. She was only a few inches taller than him, but she seemed so much more imposing. She glanced over at Lance and Hook Foot. "Guys, we'll need the room."

Lance smiled graciously. "Of course." He scooped up the small sleeping old man, slinging him over his shoulder, and he and Hook Foot took their leave.

Cassandra looked at the table, apparently trying to decide whether to have this conversation sitting or standing, and seemed to decide on standing. "Alright, kid." Her voice was cool, but not unkind. "Let's talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you come at me, I know that Varian is not and never was a psychopath; his behavior has never indicated such (even if he was homicidal). However, with the frankly horrible mental health education that existed way back in the day, I doubt that either Eugene or Varian would know what exactly a psychopath is, and thus would misuse the term. Eugene throws around words that he does not know the meaning of frequently ("seismoquakeatologist," anyone?), so I find it natural that he would mislabel Varian as a psychopath.
> 
> I know that so far, most of these chapters have just been the characters talking and sorting through emotions, but the action should be picking up very soon. (Spoiler alert: I didn't do all that buildup to Cassandra punching Varian in the face for it to not pay out; that will be happening.) The emotions will remain the most important facet of this fic throughout, but stuff will get more exciting as we continue, and there shall be a plot.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you liked it, and don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism! I appreciate every comment, even the ones that tell me when I'm doing something wrong :)


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